Please share the refs

When flicking on Sky Sports to watch the Manchester United versus Chelsea game a couple of weeks ago, inevitability was in the air. And I'm not talking about the super-hyped VT that precedes every 'Super Sunday' game on the channel. ("Shall we go with super slo-mo highlights with classical music boss?" "No, go fast paced and put the new Kings of Leon single on it.")

I am, of course, talking about the referee. I knew it would be Howard Webb. I just knew. It was obvious. Now, don't get me wrong, I like the police sergeant from Sheffield. I think he is by far the best referee in the league and have been touting him for a long time. Whenever I see that he is reffing a Spurs game, I am pleased because I know he is fair.

But that is exactly my point. Whenever Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United or Chelsea play eachother, they always get the best referees. This annoys me. The standard of reffing can never be completely the same across a whole league, but the distribution of referees should be random. By always having the best referees for the best games, this randomness is lost.

When was the last time there was a bad decision that decided the result in one of these big games? And why are games at the top of the table deemed more important to have good refereeing in than games at the bottom? A relegation battle has equally emotional consequences to a title decider.

In cup competitions, I support rewarding the best referees the bigger games as badges of honour. But in the league, this should not be the case. Everything else in the league is fairly weighted. Random allocation of referees would even out bad decisions and make refereeing fair too. Most importantly, it would result in younger referees getting valuable experience earlier.

Incidentally, I thought Webb was quite poor in the game. Not only did he play a part in the disallowed goal that should have stood (see below), he helped ruin the first half. By booking Frank Lampard for his first foul in the third minute, he set a precedent. The players were fearing an early yellow card for the slightest mistimed tackle.