Fresh from a break following his scandalous decision in the Watford v Reading game young official Stuart Attwell is back in action at Loftus Road on Tuesday night.
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Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire)
Assistants – Bull (Essex) and Flynn (Wiltshire)
Fourth Official – Hooper (Wiltshire)
We are privileged at Loftus Road this Tuesday night to be part of the rehabilitation of one of the country’s best young officials – Stuart ‘ghost goal’ Attwell. The 24 year old official, one of the youngest on the list, has always impressed me whenever I’ve seen him but blotted his copy book in September with one of the most horrific decisions ever made by a match official.
For those of you that have been on the moon for a few weeks Attwell awarded Reading a goal in a 2-2 draw at Watford on the say so of linesman Nigel Bannister despite the ball not only not crossing the goal line, but actually not going within five yards of the goal. It was the linesman that gave the goal, but Attwell went along with it and even had the nerve to book players that complained and send the Watford manager to the stand. I said at the time that to just go along with the say of a linesman despite the evidence to the contrary being so damning and then punish anybody that complained showed unbelievable arrogance on Attwell’s behalf and I stand by that – we can only hope he has leaned from his mistake. It’s worth pointing out that Bannister still awaits his return to action – he should be waiting a long time.
Prior to that catastrophe Attwell had refereed two Championship, two Premiership and a League Cup game. Since it he’s had one game in League Two and one in league One over the course of a month and will attempt to step back up this Tuesday with a big Championship match at Loftus Road. His card count is relatively low this season, 24 yellows (three a match) and a red in eight matches.
This is only his second season on the list, and he has already been fast tracked to the elite list. Last season he showed just 52 yellows (1.625 a game) and nine reds in 32 matches. Whenever I’ve seen him he has shown a good deal of common sense, and he showed no cards at all on 12 occasions last season. This is the first time he has refereed either Birmingham City or Queens Park Rangers.
Elsewhere it seems that Mr Styles has finally paid for his numerous cock ups recently with a demotion, he has Bristol City v Sheff Utd which promised to be a good game until he was appointed – bound to be shrouded in controversy and farce once he’s got his incompetent hands on it. Mike Riley has been poor of late as well, mind you he’s rarely anything other than that, and he has Carlisle v Hartlepool as a reward. Alan Wiley is also a division lower tonight, although being appointed to do Doncaster v Barnsley hints at the league hunting for an experienced official to avoid a tear up. Mark Halsey has Morecambe v Accrington so he’s really upset somebody.
Looking further ahead and, brace yourselves, it’s Trevor bleedin Kettle on Saturday for our trip to Ipswich. A long and angry rant about that useless buffoon will be online at the end of the week, I’d advise a stiff drink before going anywhere near Portman Road on Saturday.