By Martin North

“I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s like a UFO Landing.”

Those were the words of Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd on Saturday, after his side conceded one the strangest goals ever seen in English football.  CLICK HERE to view the YouTube clip of the 'goal.'

I should have said one of the strangest non-goals. It was a farcical decision that left everyone in the ground, bar the men in black, utterly flabbergasted.

Lifelong Watford supporter Harold Wolfe was at Vicarage Road for the game and he spoke of the fans’ “total bemusement” and subsequent anger at the decision.

“The fans around me immediately started to boo the referee and linesman and I wondered at one point if there might be a pitch invasion,” said Wolfe.

“Later, after several more poor decisions by the ref, the Reading fans started a chant of 'You're worse than Graham Poll'.”

Boothroyd was typically phlegmatic after the final whistle and refused to condemn the referee, 25-year-old Stuart Atwell, or Reading’s players for accepting the goal.

"If someone stops you in a car park and gives you a present you don't say no do you?" he said.

Reading’s Stephen Hunt echoed Boothroyd’s sentiments: "We can't do anything about it. It's not our mistake, but what can you do? You can't say 'no ref, it wasn't in'.”

Why not? If you received a “present” that you knew was stolen, would you still accept it? Is it fair to knowingly prosper from an opponent’s misfortune? Of course not!

Regrettably, sportsmanship in English football has been dying a slow death for some time now. Sure, most supporters still applaud when a team returns the ball after an injury. But for how many is that just an automatic response?

One of my proudest moments as a youth coach occurred less than two weeks ago when a youngster on my team was awarded a throw-in even though the ball had touched him on its way out. Unflinchingly, he told the referee the truth and the call was changed. I’m not ashamed to say that it warmed my heart.

Yes, American youth soccer leagues are no match for the grandeur of the Barclays Premier League. There are no millions of dollars at stake at our 6 v 6 games. But I refuse to accept that the spirit my player showed should diminish as the perceived significance of his sport becomes greater.

For those who believe in the precedence of fair play over a win-at-all-costs mentality, strong words and stronger actions are required. I was, therefore, rather disappointed to hear Steve Coppell’s lukewarm endorsement [CLICK HERE to read the article] of replaying the controversial fixture against Watford. During Reading’s time in the Premier League, Coppell stood out as a quiet figure of integrity amidst the red-faced tub-thumping of Fergie and the self-important posturing of the “Special One.”

"If the authorities decide a replay is the correct thing to do then I've got no objections whatsoever,” said Coppell.

"I'm not sure there's a precedent but if that's what people decide then I am quite happy to do it.”

I’m sorry Steve, but “quite happy” is not good enough in this case. At the moment, the Football League is obviously “quite happy” to dismiss any talk of a replay, especially when the talk is so muted. Coppell should also remember that there is indeed a precedent for replaying the match.

Arsenal and Sheffield United replayed their 1999 FA Cup fifth round tie after Kanu ignored fair-play conventions by chasing down a ball that Ray Parlour had thrown back to the Sheffield United keeper following an injury. Kanu crossed to Marc Overmars and the Dutchman scored the winning goal, leaving the Sheffield United players and staff apoplectic. To their immense credit, Arsene Wenger and Davis Dein immediately called for a replay, the FA agreed, and the tie was replayed ten days later (Arsenal won that by 2 goals to 1 as well).

It is lamentable that decency so rarely prevails in the modern game. And in most cases it would be fruitless to rely on the kindness of competitors. Our best recourse is to use this latest incident as exhibit A in the case for video replay.

The linesman’s excuse in this instance was an “optical illusion.” And whatever the absurdity of the decision, that is a reasonable explanation; referees and linemen are human and their eyes can be fallible. If that is the case, surely we must empower our officials by giving them all the tools necessary to make correct decisions.

Of course, one of football’s most appealing characteristics is its speed of play and that fluidity must be preserved alongside the implementation of any new technological assistance. But despite what some traditionalists may have you believe, it can be done.

Football lags behind so many other sports in the quality of its officiating. All the American major leagues as well as rugby, cricket and tennis have accepted video replay as an essential part of a referee’s decision-making process. There were skeptics in those other sports, but each has found its own use for the new technology and adapted it to meet the different games’ unique needs. There is absolutely no reason why football cannot do the same.

In fact, by removing the element of doubt from some decisions, like at Vicarage Road, we can actually speed the game up by cutting out the needless on-field arguments and bookings that regularly follow debatable decisions.

We live in a society based on the principle of open justice; justice must be seen to be done. If the FA’s lauded Respect Campaign has any hope of success, there must be a renewed effort to improve the standard of refereeing by every means available. Everybody in football thinks they’re right, even when they know they’re not. The behavior of players, managers and fans will only get better if we can all agree on who is actually right: the referees.

Martin North also edits and contributes to the soccer blog, Row ZZ. He can be reached at mailto:martin@rowzz.com.

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