Halsey’s ‘pressure’ claim

Mark Halsey, a former Premier League referee, claimed in 2016 he was put under pressure by Professional Game Match Officials Ltd to lie about whether he had seen an incident. Steven Nzonzi, playing for Blackburn at Stoke in 2011, elbowed Ryan Shawcross, but Halsey was happy it was not a red card offence. Halsey claimed PGMOL bosses wanted him to say he hadn’t seen the incident so they could apply retrospective punishment. “My bosses weren’t happy,” Halsey told the Sun. “I was under pressure to say I hadn’t seen it. I was furious but no matter what industry you are in, you do what your bosses say. So [Nzonzi] was charged and got three matches [banned]. I know it goes on because other referees have told me. Nothing can happen because nobody can say anything publicly as a referee. But I suspect it does go on. There are outside influences on different situations.” The PGMOL issued a denial: “Match officials submit their reports, including critical incidents, directly to the FA. There is no pressure from the PGMOL to include or omit anything.”

Fixer Hoyzer jailed

A 26-year-old referee, Robert Hoyzer, was jailed in Germany for two years and five months in 2005 for rigging games in return for payments from Ante Sapina, a sports-bar owner who masterminded a €2m betting scam. Hoyzer’s reward was €67,000 and an expensive television set for the nine matches he fixed or tried to fix, which included his role in regional league side Paderborn’s remarkable comeback victory over top-flight Hamburg in the first round of the German Cup. Hoyzer awarded Paderborn two penalties and sent off the Hamburg striker Emile MpenzaSapina made more than €750,000 from Paderborn’s 4-2 victory, according to the indictment. The trial heard vivid details of how the betting syndicate communicated with Hoyzer by ringing him up at half-time in his dressing room. Once Sapina even sent the referee a text message, offering him €50,000 if he could come up with the right result.

The ‘ghost goal’

Stuart Attwell became the youngest Premier League referee, in 2008-09, but had “a howler” at Vicarage Road that season in the Championship. After a corner to Watford’s near post, the ball bobbled off the defender John Eustace and out for a goal kick. With Watford and Reading seemingly happy to play on, and none of the 14,761 spectators appealing for a decision either way, Atwell conferred with his assistant Nigel Bannister and gave a goal, shortly before sending off Watford’s manager, Aidy Boothroyd, for protesting. Reading would eke out an undeserved 2-2 draw thanks to a Stephen Hunt penalty, with the Irish midfielder saying his side’s opener was “probably the worst decision I’ve ever witnessed in football”, although Paul Rejer, the assistant referees manager at the game, defended Attwell: “The referee has got no way of knowing for definite at the particular time whether the ball has crossed the line for a goal.”

Forest are robbed

Nottingham Forest travelled to Anderlecht with a 2-0 lead from the first leg of their Uefa Cup semi-final in April 1984. But after a string of strange decisions by the Spanish referee Emilio Guruceta Muro, including the bizarre award of a penalty for the home side and the ruling out of a perfectly good Forest goal, the truth finally emerged in 1997 when the Belgian club admitted their former president, Constant Vanden Stock, had used a local gangster to pay the referee £18,000. Muro died in a car crash in 1987, aged 45, taking his secrets to the grave. Forest’s Garry Birtles started the second leg on the bench. “[Manager Brian Clough] twigged it,” Birtles said. “Those were his exact words. Before the match our dressing room door was open. The referee’s door was open and we could see Anderlecht officials going in and out.” The Belgian side were banned for one year from Uefa’s competitions. Anderlecht’s ground still bears the name of their disgraced former president.

Dean’s ‘wonderful decision’

Whether celebrating on the terraces of his beloved Tranmere or flamboyantly issuing a yellow, Mike Dean was never far from the spotlight. The former Premier League referee came under fire for appearing to celebrate Mousa Dembélé’s opener for Tottenham against Aston Villa in 2015, wheeling away with a finger to the sky. “I was celebrating my wonderful decision of [playing an] advantage; I got sucked in,” he said. “I just love the football. It got taken out of context.” Dean later elaborated. “If something that I work on pays off, like playing an advantage, everyone’s happy. The celebration was a bit over the top, though. What an idiot I made of myself, right in front of the TV cameras.”