The lawman

Abuse from the mob goes with the territory.

But even the most level-headed supporter can be relied upon to utter the odd expletive in the referee's direction during a match.

Accusations of declining standards, gross incompetence and a lack of basic common sense usually follow.

And there is a hollow ring to those who then add their appreciation about the difficulties of 'this unenviable job'.

The central theme is always the same: 'We could do the job better - go home ref and read your rulebook'.

Against this background you might think the Referees Association could do with hiring OJ Simpson's "Dream Team" to put the case for the defence.

But even they would have difficulty in shaking off this charge.

Eddie Wolstenholme is by no means, he points out, a spokesman for referees. Nor is he an apologist for the blunders occasionally committed by his colleagues or by himself.

But as a prominent referee in the Endsleigh League with four years experience, his views are more relevant than the rantings and ravings of those less informed.

And when he pinpoints the areas of concern, as he sees them, there is a distinct element of simple truth.

"Communication with players is the biggest barrier we have," maintains Preston-born and Blackburn-based Wolstenholme.

"I don't think that the situation is as bad as people say and I honestly don't think that the players think it is as bad.

"The players' other big problem is that they think we are inconsistent.

"But I just don't see how you can eliminate that.

"There are no two people alike.

"But I think it helps going into clubs - I go into Burnley a lot - and talking to players. "When you listen to them and see them a lot you know how they think and what they think and what they're like.

"And most of them, if they think they can talk to you, are all right.

"Just gaining their confidence is the key."

But this relationship comes under the most acute pressure through the presence of "Big Brother" - TV.

"There's that much TV on every game now, even in the Endsleigh League, that the scrutiny on referees is intense.

"If there's an incident and it's cracked down on one week and not the next week people want to know why.

"I understand that players can be frustrated by what they identify as an inconsistency.

"However, I would say that the perception of the public is sometimes influenced by pundits who aren't fully aware of the rules. "For example, Alan Hansen made a major point a few weeks ago about the position of the ball when Alan Wilkie awarded the penalty between City and Manchester United.

"That is irrelevant. If a player punches another player, and neither are involved in the action, it is still a foul and the same principle applies over that penalty.

"The position of the ball doesn't count.

"I'm not saying whether I would have given a penalty or not but people must realise that from the angle the referee saw the incident, the defender had his arms completely wrapped around Cantona."

Wolstenholme's admission that, as a player, he "hated referees" underlines the total honesty with which he now tackles his duties as an official.

A useful midfielder in the local leagues (he played for Bamber Bridge, presently pacesetters in the UniBond Premier Division), his career was cut short by a knee injury at 23.

His passion for the game, however, ensured further involvement in some capacity.

"I didn't enjoy refereeing one bit at the start," he recalled. "But after about nine months I was fully converted.

"Now I enjoy it more than my job."

An engineer at GEC in Preston, Wolstenholme is able to marry the two together by taking unpaid leave and claiming holiday time to referee matches.

A family man, he always brings wife Fiona and the kids to whichever match he is working at weekends - not to watch the game but to do the shopping.

"They all hate football except my son, Paul, who supports Liverpool," explained Eddie who, at 42, has five more years to referee in the Football League.

Family aside, football dominates the rest of his life and he will enthusiastically discuss the game at length.

He endorses the recruitment of ex-players into refereeing and rejects the notion that becoming available at the relatively advanced age of 34 or 35 is a major disadvantage. But not all ex-players, he forcefully adds, would necessarily make good referees.

And even the best referees are prone to the odd criminal mistake.

"Clive Thomas was consistently one of the best referees in this country for years," he said.

"But he had one of the greatest lapses in common sense when, during the 1978 World Cup, he blew his whistle for full-time when Zico was heading home a corner into the goal.

"It wasn't allowed.

"Now, he complains about referees today lacking common sense and I just can't see the logic."

Logic rarely comes into it when the public vents their anger at referees.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.