COLUMNIST KEVIN SPARKE

The Everton 'X-Files'

By Kevin Sparke :  28/10/2007 :  Comments (55) :

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I don?t go in for fanciful conspiracy theories. Elvis is dead and not working for British Gas as a heating engineer in Cardiff; JFK was shot by a lone deranged gunman with a crap rifle and a chip on his shoulder and not executed on the orders of the mob/CIA/KGB/KFC; the UK never wins the Eurovision song contest because our songs are crap and not because nobody likes us as a result of our turning everywhere we go on holiday into a shit version of Blackpool? (okay, the last one might be true). No, I prefer the explanation reached by reason and observation and not any fanciful theory just because it fits my particular prejudice ? yet? What is it with Everton and referees?

Ref: Give me a reason to rule out that perfectly good goal

Linesman: Erm? well? actually I never saw anything wrong with it

Ref: Oh come on?. I need material for my book?

I remember in the same game Jimmy Case (the shithouse) almost cutting our goalkeeper in half with a knee-high tackle and after a scuffle ? was he booked?? was he heck? but Mike Lyons was for retaliation.

I remember in 1982 Joe Worrall awarding about 11 minutes of injury time at an Old Trafford cup tie? ?play until Manchester United score?, was the order of the day?. Did I mention that Worrall?s two sons were Manchester United season ticket holders?

Good God, the list is endless, the ?Hands? Hansen incident, any match that Uriah Rennie officiated, the Klingon Italian ref at Villareal, I?ve plenty of other examples but I?ll either bore you to death or ferment so much disillusion and anger you?ll be storming the ref's dressing room at the next home game demanding parity or checking his pockets for wads of £50 notes? No, the point is that the poor decision-making by the Refs in question can be put down to a bad day at the office or the failings of a particular individual or, in the case of Thomas, a lust for notoriety. For active and clearly discernable anti-Everton refereeing to seemingly become an official FA policy decision you had to wait until the formation of the Sky Premier League.

Hey, now that is a serious charge? have I got any evidence to back this up? ?You bet I have.

Consider Duncan Ferguson. A fit mobile Duncan Ferguson was impossible to handle for most central defenders. He bullied and blustered and bounced opposition defenders; he could hold the ball, was good on the floor and imperious in the air. Unfortunately he had a temper, and when central defenders nudged, niggled and pulled Duncan about he would react. Sometimes he?d get his retaliation in first and out would come the red card.

Now, I?m the first to admit that Duncan was his own worst enemy and he did commit quite a few offences but he was hardly ever given the benefit of protection from the referee. I can remember plenty of occasions when Duncan would be pulled about, kicked from behind, leaned on and what would the ref do?... sod all. An illuminating insight into the mindset of the Ref was when that public school stuffed shirt David Ellery warned his linesman to keep an eye on ?the big man? as he?s a dirty player, or words to that effect. Was this the policy of all referees at that time? Did Everton suffer because of a quietly spoken directive along the lines of ?don?t ever give Ferguson the benefit of the doubt?? I?d bet dollars to doughnuts there was some collusion and therefore Ferguson and Everton were not the recipients of fair and impartial refereeing.

Case two: Andrew Johnson. I can remember how refreshing it was to watch Johnson during the first few games of last season. He was a player with genuine pace, rapier like runs splitting defences and cutting inside with dash and agility. This guy looked the business, I was thinking at the time this fella is our ?Ian Rush? (spit)? but then something strange happened. Johnson would power into the box, the final defender on his shoulder pulling and prodding, Johnson would be hurled down, tripped, nudged, hacked and fall, the result? no penalty.

Now, let's face it, the guy had a bit of a reputation for diving and this might have swayed the decision-making of one or two referees when facing a penalty claim, even when it looked like a cast-iron, nailed on certainty of a penalty. However, it wasn?t just one or two refs, giving a dodgy call re Andrew Johnson? it was bloody well all of them! At least ten cast iron penalty decisions went against us in 12 games, the majority of them fouls on Johnson. Did all of the Premier League refs suddenly wake up one morning and individually decide, ?hey, let?s not give Everton penalties, especially if it involves AJ?? No, I don?t think so. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that there was collusion between refs and some form of tacit agreement verging on policy that AJ is a diver ? no benefit of the doubt, no judging each incident on individual merit? no penalty.

Finally, let?s take the case of Clatterburke. In all my years of watching football that was the most one-sided, skewed display of refereeing I?ve ever witnessed and I?ve seen some corkers. It was clear from his body language that he had a rapport with the Liverpool players from the kick-off. It was clear that he was in awe of Stevie-G-laaa and 'the bottler' Carragher, it was obvious to all that he was in their collective pockets and was never going to give Everton anything.

I?ve spoken to plenty of neutral supporters who?ve almost unanimously labelled that performance by the ref an absolute disgrace. So, what have the FA done?? very little, a half-hearted response removing him from a list when he was already going on holiday. If that had been a Liverpool vs Manchester United game or Manchester United vs Chelsea I have no doubt that the ?Clot? would have been removed from the list of Premier League refs for a very long time and an investigation launched ? but we?re only Everton and we?ve been shit on by the FA for so long it?s become part of who we are.

As I?ve said, I don?t normally go for conspiracy theories but this suggestion of anti-Everton bias with the FA particularly inside its refereeing department is a case for Mulder and Scully if I?ve ever seen one?

Now? where did I put my blue tinted specs?

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