RATE THE REF - Anthony Backhouse v Sunderland

[MT03ALG]

The Referee's Match Fee in the Championship is £600.
The odds on a 1-0 win for Sunderland were 13/2.
Unfortunately for Mr Backhouse he wasted his £600 but would have won £4,500 so I guess it was worth a try - he even had two attempts at it !!

[BabylonClaret]

Utter utter utter shite. So Biased I'd say he toom a bung . The shout for Flemming was way way more a penalty than both of theirs. Garbage

[agreenwood]

The man was inept from first to last. It wasn’t just the penalty decisions, it was minor and major mistakes throughout the game.

3
2
10
5

[Dark Cloud]

He was the usual, run of the mill type ref regularly switching between good, bad, appalling, indifferent, bizarre, but then he gave 2 penalties, neither of which were and that was unforgivable!

[4:20]

I don't qualify to do these rate the refs but he was awful, as were the linesmen for not seeing the non first penalty and for a few foul decisions on the wings that weren't given. Can't remember a game with as many ironic cheers from both sets of supporters when a foul was eventually given. Went from extreme lenience to baffling strictness time and again throughout.

[Paulclaret]

I was watching on TV and couldn't believe what I was seeing. It started early on when there was a clear foul on Anthony which wasn't given and the refereeing went downhill from then on!

[Blyclaret]

There should be an automatic 3 game ban for this ref. Poor game and decision making.

[bigdavethemaddog]

i was shocked when i saw he had been appointed to this game as it was only 4 years ago he was reffing in non-league so has obviously being fast tracked to end up with such a high profile game like this

[fatboy47]

Can only see this bloke as a walking one-man VAR campaign.

[Foulthrow]

I’m surprised there’s not been any comment on the baffling decisions he gave in the first half in relation to Anthony and Humphreys. Both would have been in behind the Sunderland defence but Anthony was clearly taken out cynically by the full back and Humphreys was judged to have fouled the other full back with minimal contact.

[Sozturf7]

Possibly the worst ref since Hartley, that's saying something.

[morpheus2]

I thought the ref was a homer, he knew if he gave a freekick for the first pen Traffs sight would be impeded by players so to make it easier on us awarded them a pen.
The second pen he gave to dampen down a dangerous passage of play from them knowing that when Traffs saves it would destroy their morale.

[ClaretTony]

It took him 34 minutes to award us a free kick. Can’t remember anything like it.

And the only one he gave us in the first half which was absolutely astonishing.

[Poulton-le-Claret]

A - 1
B - 1
C - 10
D - 1

I am amazed that we keep finding new lows. Truly absymal.

[ClaretTony]

Possibly the worst ref since Hartley, that's saying something.

George Hartley from Wakefield - Wolves at home, January 1970. I remain convinced he had to have cheated that day. No referee on earth could get so many bad decisions so wrong and all in the favour of one team.

[Overseascricketer]

Anthony Backhouse. Like Kitchen the other week, I’m bemused as to how someone of his experience and quality is put on a game like that. 1 free kick to us in the whole of the first half sums that up. Lino in front of the Bob Lord was an absolutely incompetent too.

A- 0. Has to be 0 for those 2 penalties he gave. Even if he’s giving a penalty for the first one he has to send CJ off with the logic he has applied as he’s last man and making no attempt to play the ball apparently. As with Ward at Stoke. If there are two yellow card offences, no matter how close together they are it has to result in a red
B- 3. He was consistent alright. Has to get a 3 for how he was consistently so poor.
C- 8. Did okay with fitness for about 70 mins. The reason he’s given both penalties is because of his lack of awareness of his position and tiredness.
D- 0. Has absolutely no control of the game and if he sorted Trafford for the first penalty the mass brawl in front of the away end.

Honking ref and even though we’ve had kitchen and Ward he’s the worst of the three

[Stalbansclaret]

Have enjoyed reading this thread perversely as it has acted as a kind of therapy to know that others feel as I do about this utterly abysmal refereeing performance.
Are linesmen told not to intervene other than for offsides and throw-ins nowadays ? Even from my seat in block 5 of the Longside lower I could see the touch from CJER for the first one was outside the box !

[Claretincraven]

1
1
1
1
Started badly, got steadily worse, ended appallingly.

[Clovius Boofus]

I hope we don't get Shithouse again. The next time he might win.

[Beagleheart]

7
7
13
5

[Claret Toni]

A. Decision Making (including use of advantage) - 0
B. Consistency - 0
C. Fitness and Positioning - 0
D. Control and Authority - 0

I think I might be a bit generous here.

[Woodleyclaret]

Worst ever. when are the FL going to scrap this fast track nonsense worst since Gillette a total incompetent.

[Stproc]

3
2
10
5
The lowest scores I’ve ever given to a ref. I try to be objective, scoring the day after so emotions can die down
32 seconds in & their 1st dive was rewarded & he bought them for the first half, then he didn’t give anything at all until the penalties. He didn’t seem to be able to discern between a bad foul & a dive.

[boyyanno]

I'm going to give him 0,0,0,0 too.

Getting the big decisions all wrong is bad enough but as others have pointed out he missed clear fouls, gave decisions the wrong way all game- I honestly think he cheated.

I think if he doesn't give a freekick against Humphreys in the first half when he gets round the full back and in to the box we square that and go 1 up. Then there's the Flemming decision, the two penalty's and all the random fouls he just missed, like that one when Roberts just gets kicked on the touchline.

I can forgive Refs the odd mistake here or there but I think when you get nearly all of the important and semi important decisions wrong for a club then questions should be asked.

[Silkyskills1]

If a similar one had been given against us, you would have criticised it.

And you base that comment on what particularly? I suggest you re- read it and possibly realise how ridiculous it is. Incredible.

[Hipper]

It's anybody's guess what the ref thought he saw. But he surely can't have imagined that Egan-Riley was making a tackle when his leg touched the forward's, in which case it would have been a red card whether penalty or free kick - unless, as was presumably the case, the ref believed that it was not a clear goalscoring opportunity. Perhaps that Trafford would have got to the ball first, or that the other defender provided cover.

What I don't agree with is why it was a foul anyway. The two players' legs barely touched, though it was enough to knock the Sunderland man's left leg on to his right and trip himself up. How does an official decide, when Smith and Jones who are moving to the same spot, touch each other - who is the toucher and who is the touchee?

There is a 'double jeopardy' rule? Give a penalty, it can only be a yellow; outside the box it's red?

See DENYING A GOAL OR AN OBVIOUS GOAL-SCORING OPPORTUNITY (DOGSO) about half way down:

https://www.thefa.com/football-rules-go ... misconduct

[equinox]

The blatant body check on Anthony early on, which was waved away, set the tone.

[PWBFC]

I messaged my brother after 24 minutes to say the ref is awful. He got worse from there.

[wadeswondergoal]

Awful referee.

You’ve got to wonder with all the decisions that Sunderland have been given throughout the season - who is pulling the strings?

[redwasp]

I realised halfway through the first half we hadn't had a free kick and started keeping an eye on the clock, it was 35 minutes before we got the first one.

[Commy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZfj_0KusnE

He says here they have to anticipate and be proactive not reactive. He anticipated alright!

[DCWat]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZfj_0KusnE

He says here they have to anticipate and be proactive not reactive. He anticipated alright!

Almost a mild north east accent!

[MT03ALG]

Backhouse started refereeing in the Carlisle District League. Not so far from Sunderland. I wonder....

[CaptJohn]

George Hartley from Wakefield - Wolves at home, January 1970. I remain convinced he had to have cheated that day. No referee on earth could get so many bad decisions so wrong and all in the favour of one team.

That was the day that Dougan effectively ended Peter Mellors career with an awful foul, that went unpunished. He was a terrible ref.

[Stayingup]

No one is really asking for favours just fairness and correct decisions from the officials. We didn't see that last night. We saw a dreadful performance from them and the referee in particular.

[HurstGrangeClaret]

And you base that comment on what particularly? I suggest you re- read it and possibly realise how ridiculous it is. Incredible.

All about opinions, and in my opinion, and many others, it was two players coming together.
If you think that is ridiculous and incredible, fair enough. I don’t.

[Clarets4me]

He made Alan Hosker look like Pierluigi Collina !

[billyhamilton82]

Backhouse started refereeing in the Carlisle District League. Not so far from Sunderland. I wonder....

Wonder what? its the opposite coastline of the country and over 70 miles away from Sunderland.

Same as Burnley to Stoke.

[IanMcL]

He should be in jail.

So biased, he must have been tbreatened by a mafia, somewhere because he did everything possible to engineer a Sunderland win.

Fouls everywhere. Nothing given. 2 pens when he couldn't be certain but wanted to give anything, by then.

He should be jailed for incompetence and dodgy decisions.

[Somethingfishy]

Forced to watch this at home with just having had spinal surgery and I had my Bury supporting pal round and even he was gobsmacked at how he was missing so many niggly fouls from them in that first half.
Cirkin had a couple on Anthony not given, the naughty ankle kick on Roberts right by the 4th official and nothing at all given...and several more. He seemed incredibly keen to blow for them everytime there was any contact.
I said to my mate that this ref was an accident waiting to happen and I hoped he'd not do anything crazy that affected the game.

Well obviously that came to pass as well.

I wonder if he still got his brown envelope after the game or did Traffs cost him a tidy sum?

[BigGaz]

The other thing that I've not seen mentioned as yet is the total ineptitude of the linesmen. I can't ever remember such a lack of unwillingness to bring things to a referees attention. The tackles on Roberts and Anthony happened right in front of the linesmen and they've done nothing, happy to let the decision fall to the ref rather than use their eyes. It's almost like they've been told to stop getting involved for anything other than line calls or offsides.

[LaLigaClaret]

It's time for the EFL to investiate what the hell is happening. Can he really be that incompetent or just on the take. That is the worst performance by a ref ever, absolutely sickening. His decisions or lack of them were absolutely blatant in their bias and just plain cheating. The foul on Flemming was 10 times more a penalty than the 2 he gave them. Mind you there is also a pattern developing regarding Sunderland this season. If you look back on match reports or video of their games they often seem to be the recipient of very dubious decisions in their favour. He should be reired immediately never allowed to ref a game again at any level.

[Silkyskills1]

All about opinions, and in my opinion, and many others, it was two players coming together.
If you think that is ridiculous and incredible, fair enough. I don’t.

I do realise it's all about opinions. I don't think you understood the point I was trying to make. You clearly stated that had a penalty been given against us for a similar incident t to the one involving Flemming I wouldn't have liked it. You're actually informing me of how I might react. That is both ridiculous and incredible. As for a 'coming together' I think you may have heard that from so-called experts and pundits on tv. Never an explanation of what they mean but it sounds legitimate. Doesn't any foul involve players 'coming together'.

[Stayingup]

Backhouse started refereeing in the Carlisle District League. Not so far from Sunderland. I wonder....

I wonder to. If he shoukd be back in the Carlusle Dustrict League. But would they have him? He' truly dreadful.

[Spike]

A) 4
B) 5
C)17 was always in the right place to make the wrong decision
D) 7

[MT03ALG]

Is it possible that Backhouse reads Up The Clarets ? Before the game he was in fourth positions having refereed Burnley twice with two Burnley victories. A third Burnley victory may have suggested he favoured Burnley. He was certainly extremely keen to avoid that possible suggestion

[Spike]

Lee Mason-esque from this fat, little useless ******.

I hope he stands on a plug.

Mason was the only ref who had a middle name that I knew . F.king

Lynch was another very very bad ref

[StuWestMidsClaret]

One of the worst referee performances I have ever seen and that's saying something.

[MT03ALG]

Wonder what? its the opposite coastline of the country and over 70 miles away from Sunderland.

Same as Burnley to Stoke.

Dave Burnley is from Stoke and is a Burnley Fan

[IanMcL]

Worst ever. when are the FL going to scrap this fast track nonsense worst since Gillette a total incompetent.

You are right. Not even by a close shave!