Arsenal Fans Whinge, Wenger Whinges Again”. The major issue of the referee was somehow ignored by the vast majority of the Football writing community; Dowd’s performance wasn’t observed

The title of this article is ‘Injustice’, this not only refers to yesterday’s refereeing debacle but to the countless times Arsenal and even other Premier League teams have had results changed due to the ineptitude of the officials and referees, those who are said to be qualified and who are put in place by the FA.

Half an hour before kick was when it was first realised Dowd would be refereeing the Newcastle-Arsenal match, it would be a lie to say concern didn’t immediately follow. Of the 2 previous matches Dowd had refereed this season; Arsenal had drawn 1, lost 1 and both whilst holding a lead. Concern was never really allowed to settle as Arsenal took a 2-0 lead in 3 minutes and the idea that Dowd might have any controversial part to play in this match seemed a distant dream when Van-Persie headed in for Arsenal’s 4th with only 26 minutes on the clock.  How little we knew.

26 minutes. Arsenal score a 4th goal. Phil Dowd arrives at St. James’ Park.

To say the decisions from this point onwards we’re poor, would be an disservice to just how inept Dowd was. Newcastle we’re continually allowed to foul, follow through and tackle from behind on Arsenal players, most notably Barton leaving Arshavin sprawled on his back, no foul called but Barton’s “fall” over Diaby’s outstretched leg was worthy of a free-kick. The second-half deteriorated further; Diaby’s red card perhaps the only understandable decision; though why Nolan and Barton weren’t sent off, the 2nd penalty was given and why Robin’s goal at 4-4 didn’t stand is beyond me. The decisions had elevated to such absurdity that it would be insane not to think Dowd had been bribed and yet this style of refereeing felt all too similar.

Maybe it’s my mind playing tricks but I’m struggling to think of a season where refereeing has reached such a low, and it’s not just Arsenal who are suffering. This weekend alone has seen 4 different sets of officials make a joke of their profession: terrible refereeing at Goodison, yet more misunderstanding of the offside rule at the Britannia, the inability to notice a tackle at White Hart Lane and the one-sided, unfair, biased, incredibly sickening performance of Phil Dowd at St. James’ Park. What’s slightly heartening is that only one of these officials fits into my personal collection of “World’s Worst” a group consisting of past and present horrors: Mike Dean, Howard Webb, Alan Wiley, Steve Bennett and our favourite, Phil Dowd, but the fact that one, let alone nine different officials can be picked out for such consistently poor officiating says mountains of the Football Assosciation’s training regimes.

The question begs: Why has this been allowed to happen for so long?

What was most notable after yesterday’s match was the sudden flux of journalist’s who couldn’t wait to say “I told you so!”, Twitter lit up and you could see, given the chance, they would bash away until the cows came home. I couldn’t count one, not one that mentioned Dowd’s refereeing. Such a poor display deserved an artcile of it’s own, let alone limited inches in a match report, but it was ignored.
To the journalists at St.James’ Park; Arsenal’s collapse, not Dowd’s refereeing was the story. Hours later after Arsenal fan’s had successfully vented their anger on Twitter, other sports writers watched highlights on Match of the Day to see what the comotion was about. Forming opinions on cut clips of a match is always dangerous, heck you could even make Man-Utd look like a clean team or Stoke; a team that plays football (Classic MOTD), yet this is what happened and once again rather than Dowd’s calamitous refereeing, much of which was edited out, the story was “Arsenal Fans Whinge, Wenger Whinges Again”. The major issue of the referee was somehow ignored by the vast majority of the Football writing community; Dowd’s performance wasn’t observed properply, wasn’t scrutinised and ultimately wasn’t challenged.
The media has as much blame as the FA in this matter; they have let Dowd and so many others get away with such a low standard of refereeing for too long. The story is never questioning how these men can pass as qualified officials, how they can be the best we have, it always seems to be lost in the post-match conjecture, missing from match-reports and never thoroughly examined.

This is a matter which the FA needs to take seriously. Even if by some freak occurance they couldn’t see anything wrong with Dowd’s 90 minutes at Newcastle; the sheer number of bogus decisions by referees this season has saturated to such an extent it’s laughable.
Serious questions need to be asked about; Who is selected for Premier Leage matches?, surely with the FA so quick to call it the “Best League in the World” it deserves the best officials, How qualified are officials? How are they tested and trained? And ultimately; Are they good enough? Already this season we’ve seen young, upcoming officials simply not ready or up to standard; Stuart Atwell completely out of his depth during Arsenal’s 4-1 victory over Bolton and Michael Oliver already attracting major criticism in his first year of Premier League football. If this is the next generation, what kind of decisions will we be complaining about in the years to come? How much worse can it get?

The solution, blindingly obvious to everyone bar FIFA, is video refereeing, though if and when this will be introduced to football is questionable, especially if FIFA seem more concerned about the “Health & Safety” of wearing a snood. Yes, the snood. Yet, it feels like more could be done. Surely, the media with it’s influence could lobby FIFA, criticise the FA and scrutinise refereeing; just look at the reaction to England’s failed world cup bid.

I hate permeating the idea, but with; FIFA, the English FA and the media not even bothering to take notice, it is really starting to feel like it’s “Arsenal Against the World”