The worst refereeing I've seen in 60 years of watching The Arsenal 

Loyal Gooner Countryman is not impressed with referee Chris Kavanagh after appalling display cost Arsenal 

Passionate long-term Arsenal supporter and loyal friend to the Gooner Fanzine, Countryman 100 - aka Paul Brooker - shares his disquiet about the standard of officiating with us. 

This must-read article first appeared in the Goonerholics Forever, a website honouring memory of the late Dave Faber, a wonderful human being, and friend to so many, and is republished with their kind permission. Click here for more 

On Saturday afternoon a referee called Chris Kavanagh, from Ashton, Greater Manchester, put in the worst refereeing performance I have seen in over 60 years of watching football.

He made poor decision after poor decision.

The game turned on his sending off of Declan Rice around 50 minutes, for a second yellow card for delaying the restart of the game.

I could give you my version of that, or there were some very well written drinks under the preview, especially by GSD.

But instead I’m going to quote in full a piece written by a former senior referee, Keith Hackett, in the Daily Telegraph:

"Sending off Rice was nonsense

The decision to send off Declan Rice was absolute nonsense

All Rice did was tap the ball and it barely went a yard! His insignificant actions had no material impact on the match and hardly slowed the game down, which was the explanation offered by the Premier League for the second yellow to be shown. 

In the madness of this unfolding, I also do not understand how Brighton’s Joel Veltman escaped a card after hoofing ball, and Rice, after the Arsenal player had tapped it.

Veltman’s actions could easily have earned him a red card, and was a far more egregious act than that of Rice. A yellow should have been given to him as a minimum. The video assistant referee would have been well within their rights to intervene. 

Common sense going out of refereeing

The farce at the Emirates is another prime example of common sense going out of refereeing. Chris Kavanagh was clearly focusing on the letter of the law, rather than using a feel for the game. 

I get the feeling that the current crop of referees is too afraid to do anything that is not exactly by the book. We are losing that grey area of wiggle room that the top officials understand how to use to manage a game. 

When I was refereeing, I always believed that if you were handing out a second yellow card, it needed to be at the level of an “orange” card. By that I mean, closer to a red than a yellow, given the implications it may have on the match. 

Sympathy and common sense should be part of refereeing. I fear they are both lacking.

After all, football remains a form of entertainment, and that is being lost at the moment. Rice being sent off is a bad look for the Premier League and the sport”

........

Arteta amazed

Speaking after the match, an incredulous Mikel Arteta commented" “I was amazed.

"Amazed, amazed, amazed because of how inconsistent decisions can be.

"In the first half there were two incidents and nothing happens.

"Then, in a non-critical area, the ball hits Declan, he turns around, he doesn’t see the player coming and he touches the ball.

"By law he (the referee) can make that call, but then by law he needs to make the next call, which is a red card (to Veltman) so we play 10 versus 10.

"This is what amazed me. At this level it is amazing”

Pedro boots ball

Earlier in the game, Kavanagh had failed to book Pedro for smashing the ball 50 yards after it had gone out of play.

Failed to punish several Brighton players for violent conduct, including Martin Ødegaard being kicked hard on the knee.

Failed to give a penalty against Lewis Dunk for preventing Ben White’s shot going in by means of his arm.

He literally stopped the ball from going in the net. Kavanagh was also the ref who disallowed the goal for Bournemouth v Newcastle when the ball had hit a player’s shoulder. 

Now there are many pundits (and a few Arsenal fans) who say that the failure to win the game was Arsenal’s fault.

That after our superb first half goal from Kai Havertz and then the red card we “went into a red fog “ (Jonathan Northcroft, The Times).

That our defence was at fault for the Brighton goal and that we missed two excellent chances to win the game. All that is true.

But the impact of that awful decision to send off Rice dramatically changed the game (and removes Rice from the NLD after the interlull.

PGMOL are not fit for purpose

They are not accountable.

In some cases they apply “the letter of the law” and others they “let the game flow”.

In recent weeks we have seen the full choke hold by the Wolves player on Kai Havertz and the clothesline by Joelinton on the Bournemouth goalkeeper, an action which could have broken his neck and would have led to dismissal in all games from Rugby to NFL, go unpunished by a red card.

They are risking serious injury to players (look at the way Saka and Odegaard are kicked to death each week) whilst parroting “letter of the law” but not even applying that consistently.

Is there no way the Premier League clubs can call time on this jumped up, smug, officious, self-justifying Manchester boy’s club who know the price of everything and the value of nothing, and are ruining the Premier League?

Chris Kavanagh ruined my Saturday and probably my weekend.

Thankfully we have two weeks off from it.

Next weekend, I’m off to watch some cricket at the Oval.

Passionate long-term Arsenal supporter and loyal friend to the Gooner Fanzine, Countryman 100 - aka Paul Brooker - shares his disquiet about the standard of officiating with us. 

This must-read article first appeared in the Goonerholics Forever, a website honouring memory of the late Dave Faber, a wonderful human being, and friend to so many, and is republished with their kind permission. Click here for more