My Email to The Football League - Mark Brown

[fan_of_mulligan]

I had to send off a email to The Football League because Mark Brown made Andy D'Urso, Gavin Ward, Iain Williamson and Trevor Kettle look good yesterday, I have never seen a referee smile and smirk at Gillingham Supporters the way Mark Brown did yesterday.

To The Football League

I am writing to complain about Referee Mark Brown who was The Referee at Gresty Road as Gillingham lost 3 - 1 to Crewe Alexandra on The 10th of January.

I thought Mark Brown gave some favourable decisions to the hosts and I felt Crewe Alexandra were awarded some soft free kicks and his decision making wasn't consistent for both sides - a perfect example of this was the penalty awarded to Crewe Alexandra which was converted by Nick Ajose, now if Leon Legge's challenge on Uche Ikpeazu is a penalty then the challenge on Jermaine McGlashan in the latter stages of the first half is also a penalty, you either award penalty kicks for both fouls or neither are penalties at all, to give one and then not give the other for identical challenges partly summed up a terrible performance from Mark Brown.

Yesterday's Match might not be at the same levels as Manchester United V Liverpool, but Crewe Alexandra V Gillingham is a match that could define who avoids relegation and who is relegated at the end of the season, both set's of players, both sets of supporters and both manager's and coaching staffs at Crewe Alexandra and Gillingham knew how important a win was for either team yesterday - but I don't think that Match Officials understand the importance of the match and don't take this into consideration either, Referee's will take charge of one game one week and irrespective of how they have refereed that particular match for one weekend, they will take charge of another match the following weekend, a poor manager gets the sack, a poor player gets dropped to the bench or the reserves, but a poor referee can carry on refereeing matches regardless of there performance.

I know referee's have a difficult and challenging job, but Mark Brown did something at the match that I really did found unacceptable, Mark Brown was smiling and smirking at Gillingham Supporters in the away end, and we found his levels of professionalism, his performance as a Referee and his decision making to be way below the standard expected from any professional referee.

I also urge another Referee to re-watch the match yesterday and perhaps a different referee can understand the frustrations of The Gillingham Players and Supporters, because if the foul on Uche Ikpeazu is a penalty, then the challenge on Jermaine McGlashan is also a penalty, and there was a blatant hand-ball by Uche Ikpeazu in the build up to the third goal, it was so obvious that it was a handball because every Gillingham Player stopped.

I also think that players and manager's are allowed to criticise referee's if there performance deserves criticism, Referee's cannot be allowed to remain in a protective bubble where they are immune to criticism, even if a referee was to speak out and say "I am sorry, I made a mistake having watched it again" we as supporters can accept that because referee's have a split second to make an important decision.

But the big decisions that Mark Brown got wrong yesterday were so obviously wrong, you didn't even have to be a referee to realise that the first goal wasn't a penalty and the third goal was clearly hand-ball, even the free kick for the free kick for the second goal was controversial, but I thought Gillingham's defending for that goal was very poor, but it is Crewe Alexandra's first and third goals that I have got a big problem with, along with Mark Brown's unacceptable refereeing performance through-out the entire match.

Thank You for reading My Email and I hope I will get a response to the concerns I have raised in this email.

Also not included was the yellow card Leon Legge got for a 50 / 50 challenge with Ben Garratt and countless free kicks which were given or not given, while the defending for the second goal was appalling and unacceptable, it was never a free kick in the first place.

Up until the first penalty it was even stevens, but that penalty and the decisions given by Mark Brown just put Gillingham on the back-foot, I know what response I will get from The Football League, but I felt the need to complain and send off a email - sadly the damage is already done though.

[Garawa]

I do agree but I fear you are wasting your time a bit! I doubt we write off complaining about a ref when he gifts us a result (although it doesn't seem to happen much)!!!

I sounded to me as if the ref got 2 key decisions very wrong. Had he blown (or not blown as the case may be) we would have still drawn the game 1-1 anyway against the worst defensive side in the league. We had the players capable of winning easily but half of them are no longer plying their trade with us! We weren't in the game at all first half for the umpteenth game in a row.....why on God's earth do we only compete in the second half of games?????? The players should have done more and play to the whistle instead of appealing whilst the opposition try to score , the management team were inept and we are looking for excuses from the ref again. Unfortunately I think a Peter Taylor side from 3 weeks ago would have won this match.

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

FOM you must have sent half a dozen complaints over the years to the FA,and nothing has changed.All you will get is that bog standard reply.The ref`s at our level are mostly inconsistent,and there will always be these annoying moments in games.

[CadburyMan]

You very rarely lose matches because of a referee's decisions(s) - - its usually because you just aren't good enough. Yesterday we weren't good enough. This was exacerbated by some appalling officiating

[gillsfan1066]

My Dear Ms.Mulligan, Fanny my dear, WHY do you think the refs hate GFC,what have we done to these guys to make them so mad at us year in year out for 50 years ??
Me thinks you have to much time on your hands, maybe more time in the kitchen cooking vitals, washing ,cleaning and sewing and less time annoying that nice Mr.Mark Brown would be more useful ??
He doesn't actually read the e mails and letters people send him, some lackey earning a few quid an hour does, and he/she opens them,reads the first few words, laughs, writes down your address and throws the letter in the bin or deletes the e mails ,then you get a lovely reply from Mr Brown which is exactly the same as all the others you have received.
Now far be it from me to try and teach you anything, but a 3,971 page e mail or letter just doesn't cut it,the reader is bored by the 10th line, short and sweet like you my dear, short and sweet,that's how you get noticed, not the dam Encyclopedia Britannica Aardvark to Czar size letter.

[fan_of_mulligan]

I have got the following response today from The Football League.........

Thank you for your email, this has been passed through to the referees department for their information.

Firstly, it is worth stating that The League receives numerous queries and complaints regarding individual referee's and match officials’ decisions and their overall performance. Without usually commenting on specific incidents or bookings, we can advise that the performances of all officials are constantly monitored by way of club and assessor reports, match videos or DVD and, at some grounds, Prozone statistics. Matches are also analysed by the Referees' Manager, a referees’ coach and the referee and, despite the perception of some, match officials are most accountable for their performance.

We can advise that the referees’ manager has been in contact with the clubs involved regarding this match, however any such conversations remain private and confidential.

In a general sense, refereeing often comes down to judgement and in some cases it is extremely difficult to spot every single incident that occurs on the field of play, whether this be due to the proximity of the ball to players, the position of the referee, or other players obscuring views of the officials. In addition it is a fact that the human element of the sport means referees do also make mistakes during games, just like players and managers do. With only one chance to view every incident, and no benefit of replays, the modern referee has a sometimes difficult task. Indeed in the modern era there are often scenarios whereby a panel of studio pundits will debate a refereeing decision, viewing it in slow-motion numerous times, and still be of the opinion that an incident remains inconclusive. This alone highlights the difficult task referees face when making split-second decisions.

The Referees’ Manager also works with his group in a bid to constantly improve standards in a game which has become faster and more frenetic over recent years. Every match is recorded and referees are under closer scrutiny than ever before. The match assessor is asked to consider the referee’s and officials’ overall performance and circumstances of the match in determining the mark awarded for his performance. This will include consideration of any proactive or preventative measures taken by the referee which aided his control of the game, of how the referee responded to situations that occurred in the match and how the referee managed the consequences of any difficult decisions or situations.

Specifically, the assessor is asked to appraise the referee’s performance against the following competencies;

• Application of the Laws of the Game and disciplinary control
• Management of the games and players
• Personality
• Teamwork
• Fitness, positioning and movements

The information shared between the referee and his assessor is not made public and is confidential. This is similar to conversations between a club manager and his players for example but as aforementioned, assessors are present at every match. In addition there are a range of ‘integrity measures’ in place to ensure that referees abide by the high standards required to perform. Should any particular club have reason to query a referee or want to discuss a referee’s performance, they do so by contacting the referees manager.

We trust that this highlights to you the procedures in place designed to improve performances and thank you for contacting us with your comments, which as aforementioned have been noted and passed on.

Thank you for contacting The Football League.

Regards,

Andrew Pomfret
Customer Services Department
The Football League Limited
www.football-league.co.uk

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

The usual reply then FOM.