Frustrated inter-county refs demand more support and feedback from Croke Park

Officials in both codes want at least semi-monthly meetings with fellow colleagues.

Galway's Robert Finnerty is spoken to by referee David Gough during Sunday's Connacht SFC final. Pic: INPHO/Bryan Keane

Inter-county referees are pressing for more engagement with Croke Park officials during the season.

While Wednesday evening’s hurling meeting in Dublin following an eventful weekend for a couple of referees was generally considered to be productive, there has been frustration among the current national panel of match officials that not enough support is being given to them.

Referees, both hurling and football, are to seek more regular feedback and at least semi-monthly meetings with fellow colleagues and administrative figures as a way of improving performances and sharing information. Football match officials convened in the GAA’s centre in Abbotstown last week.

The pressure on leading hurling referees has rarely been higher. The last three men appointed to take charge of the Munster SHC final – Liam Gordon 2023, John Keenan 2022 and Paud O’Dwyer 2021 – were not appointed to a game for the remainder of those championships.

In recent weeks, three-time All-Ireland SHC final referee James Owens has been heavily criticised for his performances in the Cork-Clare and Waterford-Tipperary provincial round games.

Meanwhile, hurling referees were reminded about head-high tackles going unpunished and a number of yellow card offences that had not been picked up thus far in the provincial championships.

Among themselves, some inter-county referees in both codes have also discussed the merits of introducing vanishing foam as a means of ensuring free-takers strike the ball exactly where frees have taken place.

While linesmen often station themselves on the sideline directly across from where the foul took place, in central areas it can be more difficult to ensure that. In last Sunday’s Connacht SFC final, there were at least two second-half frees, one for both Galway and Mayo, that were kicked several metres closer to goal from where the infringement was awarded.

Vanishing spray has been used at World Cups and the Premier League since 2014 and the Champions League a year later to mark where a free should be taken and the exclusion area of 10 yards for opposing players.

Another discussion point has been one county’s indirect approaches to match officials appointed to championship games involving their teams, unwelcome behaviour which has been brought to the attention of GAA administration.

Elsewhere, speaking to Tipp FM, Fergal Horgan believes one of the umpires at each end should be a referee at senior inter-county level.

The three-time All-Ireland SHC final appointee said: “I think the time has come where we need to have at least one referee at each end umpiring. I had two referees at each end that knew the rules of the game inside out.

“Square balls or any infringements made inside the large parallelogram, according to the rules they can bring that to the attention of the referee if they think a foul has been committed.

“That was brought in at Congress a couple of years ago, so that is there for the referee and the umpires. But it's no good unless the umpire knows what the rules are. I think the day has come where we seriously need to look at having one inter-county referee, or former inter-county referee, at each end for matches.”