Ref with Disability

thewolfboy

Thought the ref today (Blackpool) did a very tidy job. Not perfect but had a nice control of the game and let it flow.
Think it is brilliant that despite his withered left arm he can make it as a Championship ref. Doesn't let his disability get in the way of his ambition. Top man. Hats off!

Mendonca In Asdas

To be honest i didn't even notice that the ref had a disability until you mentioned it, but i did think apart from the odd decision he was pretty darn good.

ForeverAddickted

Was a very good ref today... Certainly one of the best I've seen at a match in a long time, kept out the way, ensured he wasnt the centre of attention and didnt feel the need to have a mothers meeting with a couple of players every time there was a corner

Nice how he got a round of applause from the fans when he went back to book one of the Blackpool players in the second half

Huskaris

I thought he was very good too, I noticed his disability about 35 minutes in, and I think its great he still manages to get a job like that (but then again, why shouldn't he) and he did it very well.

Danny Addick

Very good. Let play continue on an advantage a few times and was quite right.

AddickFC81

Didn't notice the ref most of the time he must have been good

stonemuse

Ref was excellent today ...one of the best we have had.

guinnessaddick

Ref was very good and a lot better than the blind ones that we tend to get.

Huskaris

guinnessaddick said:

Ref was very good and a lot better than the blind ones that we tend to get.

I see what you did there.

Addickted

ForeverAddickted said:

Nice how he got a round of applause from the fans when he went back to book one of the Blackpool players in the second half

I applauded him because the booking was about three minutes after the incident.

Huskaris

Addickted said:

ForeverAddickted said:

Nice how he got a round of applause from the fans when he went back to book one of the Blackpool players in the second half

I applauded him because the booking was about three minutes after the incident.

Same. Love seeing a ref that doesn't let things like that go, he seemed to really enjoy it too, always had a smile on his face, funny how if you make the right decisions as a ref people will actually like you!!! Maybe other refs could learn a few things.

Brendan_O_Connell

Thought Mr. Hill did a fantastic job today, sensible refereeing, not trying to be the star of the show.

Made a couple of dodgy calls on throw ins, but overall was excellent.

I think the way both Chris Powell and Paul Ince congratulated him after the game says it all.

Hopefully we'll see him down The Valley again soon.

Kap10

I thought he did ok on throws. Sent back the Blackpool player who stole half the pitch and called the foul throw. I remember a few years ago we had an East stand linesman with a similar disability.

DRAddick

The very fact that people think that it's worth mentioning that he had a disability to his arm and so inferring that that should somehow influence his ability to Referee is the very reason we have 'positive discrimination' that people (quiet rightly) moan about.

AddickFC81

He was call Keith Hill. Like his namesake who manages Rochdale.

Luke Young also scored for Plymouth. But he is a 20 year old lad born in Devon. Not the our former England right back.

MuttleyCAFC

All refs will make some wrong calls, but I agree, yesterday's one got all the important things right! I don't think his arm had anything to do with that as it is a disability that would affect him if he was a keeper but it is hardly one for a ref!

thewolfboy

Yeah Mutley but it takes quite a lot of guts to put yourself in the public eye if you have a disability like his. Most hemiplegic girls I know try to hide their disability by wearing long shirts but Mr Hill just got on with it and I really admire him for that.

rikofold

DRAddick said:

The very fact that people think that it's worth mentioning that he had a disability to his arm and so inferring that that should somehow influence his ability to Referee is the very reason we have 'positive discrimination' that people (quiet rightly) moan about.

I think this attitude has changed since the Paralympics, to be frank. It's great to see someone succeeding in the professional game with a visible disability, and that ref was one of the best I've seen for years let alone this season. Why not mention it?

For me, the more people DO notice people of a disability doing activities we might not have seen them doing before helps change the attitude that it's somehow abnormal. To me, pretending that talking about disability openly is some kind of problem is a bigger issue.

I think you're reading things between the lines that I'm very sure the OP didn't intend at all, but even if he did think that a disability might influence Keith Hill's ability to referee - so what? Is it wrong to realise that it needn't be an obstacle and tell people about it? But I really don't think he's saying 'hasn't he done well for a disabled' anyway.

Huskaris

rikofold said:

DRAddick said:

The very fact that people think that it's worth mentioning that he had a disability to his arm and so inferring that that should somehow influence his ability to Referee is the very reason we have 'positive discrimination' that people (quiet rightly) moan about.

I think this attitude has changed since the Paralympics, to be frank. It's great to see someone succeeding in the professional game with a visible disability, and that ref was one of the best I've seen for years let alone this season. Why not mention it?

For me, the more people DO notice people of a disability doing activities we might not have seen them doing before helps change the attitude that it's somehow abnormal. To me, pretending that talking about disability openly is some kind of problem is a bigger issue.

I think you're reading things between the lines that I'm very sure the OP didn't intend at all, but even if he did think that a disability might influence Keith Hill's ability to referee - so what? Is it wrong to realise that it needn't be an obstacle and tell people about it? But I really don't think he's saying 'hasn't he done well for a disabled' anyway.

Very good post

jblockmatt

thought he was ok but i think it just goes to show how crap most of the others we get are.

Viewfinder

Kap10 said:

I thought he did ok on throws. Sent back the Blackpool player who stole half the pitch and called the foul throw. I remember a few years ago we had an East stand linesman with a similar disability.

Yes, I thought Hill had a good game. And going back even further, I remember a lino in our Sell-Out Park days who was a Thalidomide victim.

Charlton_Road_James

rikofold said:

DRAddick said:

The very fact that people think that it's worth mentioning that he had a disability to his arm and so inferring that that should somehow influence his ability to Referee is the very reason we have 'positive discrimination' that people (quiet rightly) moan about.

I think this attitude has changed since the Paralympics, to be frank. It's great to see someone succeeding in the professional game with a visible disability, and that ref was one of the best I've seen for years let alone this season. Why not mention it?

For me, the more people DO notice people of a disability doing activities we might not have seen them doing before helps change the attitude that it's somehow abnormal. To me, pretending that talking about disability openly is some kind of problem is a bigger issue.

I think you're reading things between the lines that I'm very sure the OP didn't intend at all, but even if he did think that a disability might influence Keith Hill's ability to referee - so what? Is it wrong to realise that it needn't be an obstacle and tell people about it? But I really don't think he's saying 'hasn't he done well for a disabled' anyway.

I agree with this & as a wheelchair user myself can confirm that since the Paralympics people's attitudes towards us has changed

Saga Lout

I never noticed - will be sending my scouts Observers badge back in shame.

DaveMehmet

Whilst not suggesting that being female is a disability, the ref at welling yesterday was a woman. She seemed tiny amongst the players but didn't take any shit, especially off Davids, who she ended up booking. Had a very good game and controlled it well.

Vincent

I would have thought that most of the refs we get are disabled in some way but maybe not as easy to spot. I thought he had a good game but a lot of our refs are handicapped because they are not allowed to bring their dogs or white sticks on to the pitch

johnnyhumphrey

Best ref I've seen for quite a while,made little fuss,gave yellow cards when warranted and the players seemed to synchronise with his style of refereeing.They made little fuss over his decisions,apart from Blackpool's Bishop who was at it all game.Helped the game along and was happy to remain in the background.Very impressive.

LargeAddick

Thought he did very well. I don't see why though that the OP has to draw his disability to our attention. It shouldn't affect his ability to be a referee and he should be judged on hs performance as should any referee.

soapy_jones

Title of this thread sounds like the title of a Jane Austen novel.

Sounds like the dude did ok by accounts on here. Good luck to him.

DRF

Actually I thought the ref was dreadful. The only difference was he was dreadful in our favour and most fans ignore that. We had about three handballs ina five minute period and he didn't give one. A couple of dives ignored and a missed a obvious foul for us. He picked up one of their foul throws but not the four we made.
A ref biased to your team is not a good ref.
Didn't notice anything about his arm though and actually thought this was going to be a joke thread about him being blind.

legaladdick

I thought he had a good game too. He tried to let the play continue rather than be whistle happy. The official who seemed to suffer serial disabilities was the lino on the East stand. As their fullback stole 30 yards he simply kept level with him instead of flagging to draw him back. Fortunately Mr Hill was alive to it and made him go back but surely that's what the lino should be doing. (Until they can do the job properly I cannot bring myself to describe them as 'assistant referees'.)

fossdeneboy

A great ref from the past was Alf Bond who had lost his right arm in an industrial accident at 19 years of age this did not prevent him from haveing a succesfull career includeing being the ref at the 1956 cup final . Also I can clearly remember a one armed german international in the 1950's .