Graham Poll

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Graham Poll
Personal information
Full name Graham Poll (Retired)*
Date of birth July 29, 1963 (1963-07-29) (age 44)
Place of birth    Tring, Hertfordshire, England
Other occupation    Television pundit, newspaper columnist
Domestic
Years League Role
 ? -1991
1986-1991
1991-1993
1993-2007		 Isthmian League
Football League
Football League
Premier League		 Referee
Asst. referee
Referee
Referee
International
1996-2007 FIFA listed Referee

Graham Poll (born July 29, 1963 in Tring, Hertfordshire) is an English former football referee in the FA Premier League. With 26 years of experience,[1] he was regarded as one of the most prominent referees[2][3] in the Premiership, often taking charge of the highest profile games. His final domestic game in a career spanning 1544 matches was the Championship play-off final on May 28, 2007 between Derby County and West Bromwich Albion.[4]

As well as refereeing the 2005 UEFA Cup Final he was the English representative at 2 World Cups and UEFA Euro 2000.

He rose to prominence on the world football scene after his performance in the Croatia vs Australia match at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, due to what the BBC called "a series of errors", most notably booking the same player three times before sending the player off. Poll retired from refereeing international tournament finals matches citing his error in the match but continued to referee in the Premiership, Champions League and on International Games - but he said he would not allow himself to be nominated to represent the FA at any Tournament Finals as he felt he had had his chance.[5]

Contents

[edit] Football career

Poll took up the whistle in 1980, progressing from the Isthmian League to become a Football League assistant referee in 1986. Five years later he became a full Football League referee, before being selected for the list of Premier League referees in 1993.[6]

Having held a FIFA badge since 1996, he took charge of quite a few European matches, of which possibly his most important was the UEFA Cup final between CSKA Moscow and Sporting Lisbon in 2005. Poll also took charge of many international matches, refereeing at top FIFA and UEFA tournaments such as Euro 2000, where Poll took charge of France versus Czech Republic, and Norway versus Slovenia in the group stages. He refereed his last ever Premiership match on May 13, 2007, between Portsmouth and Arsenal.

His last ever match, and his last in Europe, was to have been the Euro 2008 qualifying match between Finland and Belgium on June 6, 2007.[7] However, some time prior to that match, he took part in an interview which appeared critical of the support referees receive from the FA in the face of criticism by team managers and coaches.[8] The match was overseen on the day by fellow English referee Mike Riley instead. In August 2007, Poll released his autobiography entitled "Seeing Red", and now concentrates on media work, as a pundit for BBC Sport's football coverage, and as a columnist with The Daily Mail, his feature entitled "The Official Line" appearing every Saturday.[9]

[edit] Everton v Liverpool, 2000 FA Premier League

In the dying seconds of the Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool on April 21, 2000,[10] the Liverpool goalkeeper Sander Westerveld kicked the ball at Everton's Don Hutchison's back while Hutchison was retreating towards his own half. The ball bounced into Liverpool's net, but Poll disallowed the goal, claiming that he had already blown the whistle to end the game. The television slow-motion pictures proved that this was incorrect, and after retiring in May 2007, Poll confessed that disallowing the goal had been a mistake that he regretted.[11]

[edit] France v Czech Republic 2000

Poll first attracted controversy on the international stage for a decision in the above game played on June 16, 2000, in Bruges at Euro 2000. During the first half Poll awarded a penalty kick to the Czech Republic. However, before awarding the kick Poll ventured over to the assistant referee to confirm where the foul had occurred. Poll awarded the penalty.

[edit] World Cup 2002

Poll attracted controversy for his role in the Italy versus Croatia game at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, played on Saturday June 8, 2002. His two assistants that day were England's Phil Sharp and Denmark's Jens Larsen. In the opening minutes, Poll had waved away a protest that a Croatian player had been injured, instructing the player to stand. When play was eventually stopped the player left the field with a bloodied nose.

Just after half time Christian Vieri had a headed goal disallowed for offside; TV replays showed the Italian player to be on-side when the pass was made.[12] Vieri netted the ball again minutes later to give his side the lead. Italy then had a second goal disallowed for shirt pulling, after a long free kick had found its way in. Both goals had been flagged for infringements by assistant referee Larsen. Croatia then found an equaliser through Ivica Olić, and a winner just fifteen minutes before the end via a deflected shot from Milan Rapaić. Poll had a busy game, as there were forty-two fouls, three goals scored, two goals disallowed, and two bookings.

After the game, Vieri said "Those weren't division one or even division two officials, they were village officials." Francesco Totti also complained about the lack of protection Poll had offered him: "I took a lot of kicks. He was an English referee in every way."[13]

As a result of the game FIFA were asked about the standard of refereeing at that World Cup. Their spokesman, Keith Cooper, said: "Generally the overall standard (of refereeing) is more than satisfactory. It is acknowledged that mistakes may be made. I'm not necessarily saying this was the case last night. I do want to emphasize that. It is in the nature of the beast that mistakes can happen. Referees are humans just like players and we shouldn't look at isolated matches, but the standard as a whole."[14]

[edit] World Cup 2002 statistics

  • Games officiated: 1
  • Goals seen: 3
  • Bookings: 2
  • Reds: 0
  • Penalties awarded: 0
Event Games Booked BookedSent off Sent off
World Cup 2002 1 2 0 0

[edit] Arsenal v Sheffield United, 2003 FA Cup Semi-Final

Another incident involving Graham Poll was when Arsenal met Sheffield United in an FA Cup Semi Final at Old Trafford, Manchester in the 2002-2003 competition. Arsenal won the game 1-0 but in the lead up to their goal by Freddie Ljungberg, Poll collided with United midfielder Michael Tonge whilst he was on the ball. This prevented him from tracking back to cover the scorer, to the dismay of Neil Warnock, the then Sheffield United manager.[15]

[edit] World Cup 2006

Poll was the only British referee at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

[edit] Flag of Togo Togo v. Flag of South Korea Korea Republic

This was the first game of Poll's second FIFA World Cup, with first time Finalists Togo taking on 2002 semi-finalists South Korea. Poll sent off Jean-Paul Abalo of Togo for a second bookable offence, although he accidentally showed the red card first and the yellow second. Lee Chun-Soo netted an equaliser for Korea from the resultant free kick.

[edit] Flag of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia v. Flag of Ukraine Ukraine

Poll's second game of the 2006 FIFA World Cup saw Saudi Arabia meet Ukraine. The Ukrainians finished 4-0 winners. Poll received slight criticism from commentators for not booking players for unsportsmanlike 'diving' when turning down a penalty appeal (as referees have been instructed to do by FIFA). In all, he showed six yellows, three to each side. There was an unfortunate moment in the first half for Poll, after he accidentally deflected the ball into the path of the Ukrainian, Maksym Kalynychenko. The midfielder crossed the ball in front of the goal, and Andriy Shevchenko only narrowly avoided making contact.

[edit] Flag of Croatia Croatia v. Flag of Australia Australia

His next game was the Group F match between Croatia and Australia on June 22. Tom Dart, in his Times article on the match, commented that, "The choice of Graham Poll as referee was surprising since he is familiar to the Australians who play in the Barclays Premiership."[16] Inside the first ten minutes of the game, Poll did not see a rough tackle by Josip Šimunić[16] as a foul.

After already sending off two players, Poll failed to send off Šimunić for a second yellow card late in the match, eventually sending him off for a third yellow[17] for dissent at the final whistle.

The game ended 2-2, putting Australia through to the next round. Sepp Blatter later commented that "had Australia lost the game and gone out of the World Cup, they would have had grounds to request a replay."[18] Poll's assistant also missed that the second Australian goal by Harry Kewell was scored from an offside position.[19] Within half an hour of the game ending, UK bookmaker Coral offered odds of 10-1 against Poll refereeing another match at the tournament.[20]

[edit] Outcome

On June 28, Poll was named as one of 14 officials dismissed by FIFA from the remaining World Cup 2006 matches following his error in the Croatia v. Australia match.[21] Maria Villar Llona, president of the FIFA referee's committee, said of Poll, "He is an exceptional referee and a great sportsman, who will be able to overcome the situation thanks to his strong personality and love of the game."[5]

Poll retired from international tournament finals football on June 29, 2006, citing the error as the reason. He said in his retirement announcement,

"What I did was an error in law. There can be no dispute. It was not caused by a FIFA directive, it was not caused by me being asked to referee differently to the way I referee in the Premier League. The laws of the game are very specific. The referee takes responsibility for his actions on the field of play. I was the referee that evening. It was my error and the buck stops with me."

In the press release, he also claimed that he had asked FIFA to be allowed to go home, to be with his family after the trauma of his mistake in the match.[5]

He continued to referee in the Champions League and on International Games, but said he would not allow himself to be nominated to represent The FA at any tournament finals. "It's time for somebody else in England to have a go and I will do everything I can to prepare them. But for me tournament football is over," Poll said.[5]

[edit] World Cup 2006 statistics

  • Games officiated: 3
  • Goals seen: 11
  • Bookings: 16
  • Reds: 4
  • Penalties awarded: 1
Event Games Booked BookedSent off Sent off
World Cup 2006 3 16 4 0
  • The above table is representative of the Laws of the Game, so does not include the extra yellow card
    mistakenly shown to Šimunić of Croatia during his well-documented dismissal: see Croatia v. Australia

[edit] Portsmouth vs Arsenal (2007)

During a English Premier League match between Portsmouth F.C. and Arsenal F.C. Poll disallowed a Niko Kranjcar goal. This goal would have put Portsmouth into the UEFA Cup for the first time. Poll said the goal was disallowed for offside, but replays show Kranjcar was clearly onside. This angered many Portsmouth fans. The game ended 0-0

[edit] Career highlights

[edit] International career details

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

UEFA Euro 2000 Flag of Europe

2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

2002 FIFA World Cup

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification

FIFA Club World Championship 2005

2006 FIFA World Cup

[edit] Card statistics

Season Games Total Booked Booked per game Total Sent off Sent off per game
1995/1996 21 62 2.95 3 0.14
1997/1998 28 113 4.03 12 0.42
1998/1999 32 119 3.71 9 0.28
1999/2000 40 136 3.40 6 0.15
2000/2001 43 119 2.76 11 0.25
2001/2002 45 120 2.66 6 0.13
2002/2003 40 119 2.98 5 0.12
2003/2004 42 114 2.71 4 0.09
2004/2005 45 124 2.75 5 0.11
2005/2006 49 166 3.38 10 0.20
2006/2007 48 165 3.43 8 0.16

[edit] Personal life

Poll is married to Julia. The couple have two daughters, and one son.[22] He also continues with charity work, and ran in the London Marathon on April 13, 2008, finishing in a time of four hours and 20 minutes.[23] The proceeds went to the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home.[24]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mark Kendall. "Poll ends international career", Sky Sports, 2006-06-29. Retrieved on 2006-07-10. 
  2. ^ Lawrie Madden (2002-08-23). Poll: Scrutiny is relentless. TheFA.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
  3. ^ "World-Poll blows whistle on wedding anniversary", Reuters, 2006-06-05. Retrieved on 2006-06-23. 
  4. ^ Graham Poll's retirement: Guardian Unlimited, May 28, 2007. Retrieved on May 28, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c d "Poll retires from international game", The Guardian, 2006-06-29. Retrieved on 2006-06-29. 
  6. ^ Profile: the Football League official website. Retrieved on February 4, 2008. he has now retired
  7. ^ Poll no-show for his last ever game as a referee, Finland v. Belgium, June 6, 2007): UEFA.com (June 6, 2007). Retrieved on June 7, 2007.
  8. ^ Interview given in May 2007 regarding FA support for referees: BBC.co.uk (May 30, 2007). Retrieved on May 31, 2007.
  9. ^ "The Official Line", Daily Mail column written by Poll: the Mail's own website. Retrieved on February 4, 2008.
  10. ^ Everton v. Liverpool, 2000: soccerbase.com website. Retrieved on February 17, 2008.
  11. ^ "Time to forgive Poll for howler": Liverpool Echo, June 9, 2007. Retrieved on February 17, 2008.
  12. ^ Italy v. Croatia, Vieri's disallowed goal: BBC.co.uk website. Retrieved on June 10, 2007.
  13. ^ Italian reaction to game versus Croatia at 2002 World Cup: ESPNsoccernet.com website.
  14. ^ Keith Cooper's comments following Italy v. Croatia, World Cup 2002: BBC.co.uk website. Retrieved on September 6, 2007.
  15. ^ 'Bodycheck' on Michael Tonge, FA Cup 2003, and Neil Warnock's reaction: Article at the Guardian Unlimited website. Retrieved on February 4, 2008.
  16. ^ a b Tom Dart. "Croatia 2 Australia 2", The Times, 2006-06-23. Retrieved on 2006-06-23. 
  17. ^ Worldcup06 22.6. Croatia - Australia 2-2. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
  18. ^ "Poll's head may roll after FIFA analysis", Fox Sports, 2006-06-24. Retrieved on 2006-06-24. 
  19. ^ "Poll set for early World Cup exit", BBC, 2006-06-23. Retrieved on 2006-06-23. 
  20. ^ Ryan Mills. "Socceroos Advance at World Cup After Mistakes, Late Kewell Goal", Bloomberg, 2006-06-23. Retrieved on 2006-06-23. 
  21. ^ "Ref Poll sent home from World Cup", BBC, 2006-06-28. Retrieved on 2006-06-28. 
  22. ^ Wife and children, two daughters and one son: The Guardian, June 1, 2007. Retrieved on January 7, 2008.
  23. ^ London Marathon 2008, finishes in 4hr 20min: from a report at the BBC.co.uk website. Retrieved on April 13, 2008.
  24. ^ Iain Rennie Hospice at Home, Marathon proceeds recipient: Justgiving.com website. Retrieved on April 13, 2008.

[edit] External links

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