Lack of respect for refs a dark cloud over sport
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'IN MY first game, I was attacked by a woman with an umbrella after I had sent off her son and, at the end of a draw game, the home supporters chased me and it was the visiting supporters who protected me.
'But I was then locked into the room I changed in – which was more of a store room – for half an hour before I heard the bolt on the outside of the door slide open', recalled Seamus Thornton, who made a hasty retreat to his car.
That Junior 2 league game between neighbours was certainly a baptism of fire for the new referee, but he wouldn't name the two teams now, other than to say he reported the home team who were fined £100 but 'it was a rough game'.
That incident in Seamus' first outing as a referee, illustrates the one thing both men would like to see changed in gaelic games, respect for the referee.
Both would love to see the level of respect given to rugby referees carried through into the GAA.
'It is a very tough game and those lads really do fly into one another but when the referee blows there is no arguments', said Seamus.
Lack of respect for referees carries from senior to underage level, however, Gerry pointed out that the ladies game, which is growing all the time, is different.
'You'll get one or two who might say something, but generally the ladies just get on with it. They might raise their eyes but they won't argue'.
Being called every name under the sun is something both have experienced over the years with the whistles, but Gerry recalled with a wry smile the time of the Foot and Mouth outbreak in the Cooley peninsula and hearing one sideline witty remark, 'Go home Malone, and count your effin' sheep'.
The tackle, square balls, clean lifts off the ground and the handpass are all decisions referees make dozens of times in a game, each time annoying one side or the other.
'If we were to apply the rules as in the rulebook the game wouldn't flow at all, you have to apply common sense when you are in charge of a game', says Gerry. 'if you were to go by the rules there would be no physical contact, you can't tackle the man, only the ball if you were to go by the letter of the law'.
Both men were full of appreciation for their colleagues, both other referees but especially their umpires who get nothing more than enjoyment and friendship out of their role.
' They are there for you, come hail or high water. Generally you use the same fellas, the two of us and Paul Finnegan and our umpires, the Cooley mafia as Patsy Connolly would call us', said Seamus.
