Weirdest ref decisions you’ve ever seen | PASOTI
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Weirdest ref decisions you’ve ever seen

I’m posting this here rather than the football forum, because it follows the ‘penalty that wasn’t’ decision at Lincoln, where the ref was clearly making up for the pen he didn’t give.

It got us discussing the various weird ref decisions over the years. For me it was a game I watched in the seventies at Watford, who were playing Bolton, with a young Sam Allardyce at centre back. A Bolton player played a lofted back pass to his keeper, with no Watford player nearby. Somehow it hit the retreating ref’s backside and looped over the keeper for a goal! Cue stunned silence and a very embarrassed ref. The first moment the ball then entered the Bolton penalty area, despite no Watford player being near it, he blew for a penalty, which was converted without a single protest from a Bolton player. Similar circumstances I guess to that own goal in our cup game at Yeovil, where Johnson instructed his team to let us score from the kick-off.
 

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I have very vague memory of us losing to a goal in the 60`s which was deflected in off the ref. I think it could have been away at Bolton, or someone oop north !
 

IJN

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I think the referee was called Ivan Robinson and it was Barrow from memory. I had a mate called that when I lived in Dunfermline that's how I remember his name. So it must have been between 69/71.
 
Jun 27, 2019
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I vaguely remember us being given a penalty in a home match back in the late 90s/early 2000s.

Wotton was preparing to take it and all seemed normal but then the ref changed his mind. Home Park went mental!
 
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WoodsyGreen":2m7o5jsl said:
I vaguely remember us being given a penalty in a home match back in the late 90s/early 2000s.

Wotton was preparing to take it and all seemed normal but then the ref changed his mind. Home Park went mental!

That was not given because the linesman correctly spotted the hand the touched the ball was Triggers.

Not long after the same happened against Swindon but the penalty was still given and we scored.
 

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There was one a few years back when we had either a goal kick or a free kick in out area. Someone had been receiving treatment so both teams went off for a drink and chat from the manager. We had a couple of players on the pitch and the opposition had none, but the ref signalled for our keeper to take the kick. Our keeper at the time pointed to all the players off the pitch and the ref signalled for the kick to be taken, which it was. Then, with our player heading towards the easiest goal of his life, the ref then blew the whistle and made us retake the kick once the opposition had got back into position.
 
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Can't remember the game but we lost a game to a goal that wasn't scored.The ball went wide of the net at the Devonport End but referee awarded a goal.
 
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Tony_Flags":d0ye1a6e said:
WoodsyGreen":d0ye1a6e said:
I vaguely remember us being given a penalty in a home match back in the late 90s/early 2000s.

Wotton was preparing to take it and all seemed normal but then the ref changed his mind. Home Park went mental!

That was not given because the linesman correctly spotted the hand the touched the ball was Triggers.

Not long after the same happened against Swindon but the penalty was still given and we scored.

Can you remember who it was against? I want to say it was a 0-0 draw...
 
May 11, 2019
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oldage said:
Can't remember the game but we lost a game to a goal that wasn't scored.The ball went wide of the net at the Devonport End but referee awarded a goal.[/quote

Brentford in the early 70’s towards the Devonport if my memory serves me correctly
 
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April 1971":uk7lviin said:
oldage":uk7lviin said:
Can't remember the game but we lost a game to a goal that wasn't scored.The ball went wide of the net at the Devonport End but referee awarded a goal.[/quote

Brentford in the early 70’s towards the Devonport if my memory serves me correctly

Was behind the goal. Remember it well. 1971 I would say. The ball was hit very powerfully in to the side netting. Most of us thought it was a goal but as the defender retrieved it the ball was outside the goal. Perhaps a hole in the net. With the limited TV technology at the time (Westward TV :facepalm: ) they were unable to confirm. To make it worse was the only goal of the game.
 
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April 1971":17e9zdxz said:
oldage":17e9zdxz said:
Can't remember the game but we lost a game to a goal that wasn't scored.The ball went wide of the net at the Devonport End but referee awarded a goal.[/quote

Brentford in the early 70’s towards the Devonport if my memory serves me correctly
Sounds about right. We were certainly robbed that day!
 
Jul 12, 2016
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Balham_Green":20y46wak said:
April 1971":20y46wak said:
oldage":20y46wak said:
Can't remember the game but we lost a game to a goal that wasn't scored.The ball went wide of the net at the Devonport End but referee awarded a goal.[/quote

Brentford in the early 70’s towards the Devonport if my memory serves me correctly

Was behind the goal. Remember it well. 1971 I would say. The ball was hit very powerfully in to the side netting. Most of us thought it was a goal but as the defender retrieved it the ball was outside the goal. Perhaps a hole in the net. With the limited TV technology at the time (Westward TV :facepalm: ) they were unable to confirm. To make it worse was the only goal of the game.
:thumbup:
 
Jul 14, 2008
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The strangest by far for me was a few years ago, i can’t remember who against. One of our players was completely taken out in the Devonport End penalty area and instead of awarding a penalty the ref clearly signalled advantage as the ball broke lose to an Argyle player (maybe Sarcevic?) on the edge of the box. He took a shot which went well over the bar and a goal kick was given. I found it incredible that the referee felt that a speculative shot from outside the box was a sufficient advantage rather than awarding the penalty kick.
 

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Surely the "ghost goal" at Vicarage Road takes some beating, Stuart Attwell was in charge (although in fairness i think his lino completely sold him down the river) - worth a youtube if you have forgotten it.

There was also a Champions League Semi Final when Arsenal where good - they were going through on the away goal with about 20 minutes to go at the Nou Camp, Van Persie (i think) was sent off for kicking the ball away - he was clean through on goal and about to shoot, i'm sure they measured that the time between the referee's whistle and contact with the ball was something ridiculous like 0.05 seconds - he clearly wasn't being petulant or attempting to waste time - but UEFA were firmly in Barcelona's pocket at the time and managed to get through every torrid time with a bizarre decision (the following year Chelsea were on the wrong end).