David Coldrick felt 'let down' by GAA after being dropped from referees panel

Coldrick is in favour of referees being mic' up during games. He believes three-quarters of inter-county football officials have the necessary communication skills to explain their decisions during games. 

SORE POINT: David Coldrick failed a fitness test two days before the 2023 Connacht SFC quarter-final between New York and Leitrim. He refereed the game but it was his last championship game of the summer. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

David Coldrick says he felt he was "let down" by the GAA when he was dropped from the association's inter-county football referees panel for the 2023 championship. 

The Meathman, who has refereed four All-Ireland finals, failed a fitness test in advance of the Connacht SFC quarter-final between New York and Leitrim. He officiated the fixture but it was the last championship game he took charge of that summer. 

"There was pressure put on that I needed to do the fitness test before travelling to New York," Coldrick told the BBC's The GAA Social podcast.

"I picked up an injury in my last league game up in Donegal and then I was struggling to get my fitness back. It was a calf (injury). I felt I had no option but to do the test and I failed the test. I wasn't surprised because I just didn't feel that I'd come back enough from the injury.

"I didn't like failing the fitness test but the problem was that I wasn't to be given a second chance. Where in life do you not get a second chance? I just felt as well... 20-plus years service to the GAA, and this was how I was treated.

"That was the lowest point in my refereeing career. And then it was all kind of splattered over papers and whatnot."

He did act as linesman for a couple of championship games that summer. 

"It took me a while to even get back looking at Gaelic football matches because it was just very difficult," he said. "I felt very let down by the association."

Coldrick is against the idea of Gaelic football introducing a second referee as the lack of a proper definition for the tackle could lead to a frustrating level of inconsistency between two officials during a game. Were the tackle to become better defined, as it is in International Rules, he may change his mind. 

He would be in favour of inter-county referees being mic'd, allowing spectators and television viewers to better understand decisions made on the pitch. In the 2015 All-Ireland final, Coldrick wore a microphone for an RTÉ documentary. 

"I thought that another positive step forward," he said. 

"And yet we're nearly 10 years on, and we haven't really kind of moved on from that."

He believes the GAA's concerns about referees being mic'd up are regarding what players might be heard saying to referees and also that officials may not have the necessary communication skills to explain decisions. 

"It doesn't take a huge amount to get someone in on a regular enough basis," he said, "and get every referee's abilities communication-wise and style up to the standard. There's 40 or thereabouts on the football panel. I would say at least three quarters of those are already at the level."