Barry Kelly: We can’t expect perfection from referees

After a weekend when referees Jerome Henry and Johnny Murphy came in for abuse on and off the field, Kelly believes the current crop are shown little or no patience unlike players

Barry Kelly: ‘A lot of social media is just a forum for people to make comments without backing them up.’ Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Former leading referee Barry Kelly has lamented the lack of tolerance shown to match officials making errors.

After a weekend when referees Jerome Henry and Johnny Murphy came in for abuse on and off the field respectively, four-time All-Ireland SHC final referee Kelly believes the current crop are shown little or no patience unlike players.

Referring to the Connacht Club SFC semi-final in Roscommon on Saturday when Barry McHugh was denied a mark and referee Henry was later bumped by Mountbellew-Moylough players, Kelly said: “Jerome made a mistake, that can’t be disputed. It was a mark. For whatever reason, Jerome didn’t call it and that can happen.

“But there is such an intolerance for referees making mistakes. A Ballyhale player (Joe Cuddihy) was sent off before half-time against St Rynaghs. I’m quite sure TJ Reid, Colin Fennelly, or Adrian Mullen didn’t give him a complete and utter bollocking in the dressing room. And I’m quite sure the Ballyhale supporters didn’t turn on him either and correctly so.

“He made a mistake and he could have cost his club a place in the Leinster club final. John McGrath made a similar mistake in reacting like he did. He was probably being annoyed by the Ballygunner player but it’s not him but the referee who receives the criticism.

“I’m going to games, still refereeing some and the threshold for a referee to make a mistake is one. You could be lucky enough and 10 minutes gone and you haven’t heard a peep from anyone. Then maybe you might make a wrong call and suddenly it’s as if you committed an act of gross cruelty, a complete overreaction.”

Kelly believes feelings run higher in club fixtures. “For the majority of GAA people, the club arouses the most passion. People are ultimately club people and if you offer them the choice of winning a county final or the county winning the All-Ireland, it would be the club winning the county final.

“You take this time of year and any club still involved whether it’s Mountbellew-Moylough, Pádraig Pearses, Ballyhale… those clubs have had successful years and by and large have won the vast majority, if not all of their matches. Therefore, the supporters are used to winning.

“But you’re not entitled to win every game and we’re not entitled to perfection. People will deny that and say they just want common sense but why can’t they appreciate that the referee as well as their own players can make a mistake?”

Negative comments on social media about the performances of the referees have also disappointed Kelly.

Current and former hurlers weighed in to criticise Murphy’s handling of the Munster Club SHC semi-final in Fraher Field. “People have to realise that just because you’re passionate about a club or a county doesn’t give you carte blanche to lose basic standards of decency.

“A lot of social media is just a forum for people to make comments without backing them up. I saw over the weekend comments like ‘what are the GAA doing about the standard of refereeing?’ There is a huge amount of work being done in the last 15 to 20 years and I’ve no doubt in my mind that the standard is better than it ever has been.”