McSherry’s Musings: Who’d be a referee?

The death of surrealist painter Pablo Picasso on the morning of April 8,1973 barely registered with me but the canvas at Croke Park that afternoon is etched in my mind forever.

A gang of denim-clad young Derry men, with shoulder length hair were in hand to baton combat with the Gardaí on the Hogan Stand side of the field. It was the GAA’s Braveheart afternoon.

It was two months short of my 13th birthday…

Tyrone were making waves after almost two decades in the wilderness and my late father jumped on board and took us to the games.

So it came to pass, Tyrone were in the National League Division 2 semi-final in headquarters followed by Derry and Kerry in the ‘big game’.

Paps liked to get away early to beat the traffic. He described driving in Dublin as ‘survival of the fittest’, and there was no motorway, just long queues through Balbriggan, Drogheda and Dundalk, that took forever. Tyrone won on the under card and at the main event, in the first half, Dublin referee Paul Kelly was appalling giving Derry four frees to Kerry’s 12.

At half-time older boys, with the red and white paper hats (Derry and Tyrone) threw bottles, oranges and apples at the ref from the upper Hogan Stand. They included lads from Eglish sat near us, who shall remain nameless. It was great fun! It was the old stadium and one could easily launch a missile onto the field from the upper deck. Da ses, “We’ll houl on, there’s going to be craic here!”

The refereeing went from poor to diabolical in the second half. In my mind’s eye, I see a free to Kerry from out on the sideline somehow being carried to the 14 yard line in front of the posts by the forenamed Mr Kelly. Yes! It was that blatant.

Derry wans gathered on the sideline, it was a draw and Kelly blew the final whistle as he ran like a scalded chicken down the tunnel, the mob in pursuit. Moments later he was trailed back onto the field as kicks and fists rained on him. It was estimated about 30 lads took part in the schemozzle. The Gardai relished the opportunity to hammer these Nordie upstarts and all hell broke loose as we looked down from the stand in wonder. My RE teacher was Tyrone midfielder Aidan McMahon and the next day in class, he asked me, “What did your Dad say about it?” I replied, “He said they should have kicked the ref around the Hogan Stand!” (So he did!) “Ah, I don’t know about that” said Master McMahon. He couldn’t really agree as it was RE class!

The GAA fined Derry £200 and ordered that Paul Kelly ref the replay. Derry refused to play it.

Such memories. It is all true. Ask my brother am I a liar.

The following day the Cork Examiner used the pullquote: ‘They came like wild animals’ – Ref.

Padraig Purcell in the Irish Press reported, “Gardaí, stewards, a linesman and even Director-General Séan Ó Siochain were set upon with bottles, sticks and fists in the most violent scenes I have ever witnessed in GAA headquarters.”

As a backdrop, it was a very violent time in the North, there was little love lost between Northern nationalists and the South that they felt had abandoned them and just a year after Bloody Sunday, Derry folk, understandably, were very angry and had enough of injustice, albeit this was not comparable.

Years later I met a man from Dungiven whose brother spent that night in a cell in Store Street. He wore it like a badge of honour. “I was there!” I smiled.

Last Sunday, I wryly thought of those events almost 50 years ago, as the GAA held its ‘Respect the Referee Day’ following outrageous assaults on men in black down the country.

Paul Kelly aside, I have encountered two referees who I believe cheated, one in a senior club game, the other at underage level. There are poor and crazy decisions but blatant cheating by a referee is few and far between, I hope. Obviously one can’t name these chaps but as the man says, ‘They were at it’.

There are excellent referees and great characters too.

I recall a ref back in the ‘80s, who, during a senior league club game could take no more slabbering from a player, handed him the whistle and said, “You do it” before heading up the tunnel as other players shouted, “Ah! ***** come back, don’t be like that!”

You see, without them, there would be no games.

We all know the referee, who when a player shouted, “That was no point ref!” responded, “Read the paper in the morning and you’ll find it was a point!”

Another referee forgot his whistle for a Junior game in the Lowside and decided to call fouls with a shout, “Hi! Boy!”

It is a thankless job often dealing with the illogical, like the man in your club who incessantly roars, “Too long!” after a player has taken two steps with the ball in his hand or a friend who shouted at the radio, as we listened to a game, “That was no foul ref!”

For fabulous coverage of yesterday’s county final, go to our sports section. Let’s hope it didn’t end in referee controversy!