James Horan: ‘It is really worrying that a club would go down this road’

For Horan, no club should pursue the approach Kilcoo took.

WORRYING SIGN: Kilcoo's Ryan McEvoy, Conor Laverty and Cormac O'Reilly celebrate with the trophy. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

Kilcoo’s objection against the appointment of Paul Faloon for the Down SFC final last weekend was an unfair move, according to former Mayo manager James Horan.

Speaking on the Irish Examiner Gaelic football podcast, Horan also said it was a worrying case. Faloon was initially appointed to officiate the decider at Páirc Esler. Kilcoo then objected before taking a case to the GAA’s Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA).

Despite that case being dismissed, on Saturday it emerged Faloon was no longer to take charge of the match with renowned referee David Gough set to step in. Gough then pulled out and referee Brian Higgins eventually took charge of the tie. Kilcoo ran out nine-point victors.

Down GAA released a statement on Monday saying that "there should be no right of an appeal against the appointment of a referee" before praising Faloon’s ability.

"We regard Paul as one of our best match officials, who has officiated at provincial and national level,” it read.

"An appeal against his appointment was then pursued by the Kilcoo club, on the grounds of perceived bias. We regarded this as entirely baseless and were determined to fight for the integrity of the referee and the appointment.” 

For Horan, no club should pursue such an approach.

“Paul Faloon, I know him because he has done a few games with us. I found him nothing but top level in my dealings with him. That is worrying. It is really worrying that a club would go done this road. A ‘perceived bias’? That is completely subjective for a start.

“I’d say every county or club in the country could claim a bias against a local ref who didn’t give them the free or the 45 that wasn’t given. When you go down a road like that, where does it stop? I just think it is an awful road to go down. It is completely unfair.

“To claim it against a ref like Paul Faloon. To have it so national and go about it the way they went about it, I think is terrible. I think it is a dangerous road for refereeing. A board has to appoint a ref and what is agreed is agreed, you have to go with that. Think about what would happen at a local level if this went on, there would be chaos.”