Stoney demands better referees
Casey Stoney, the head coach of Manchester United Women, has accused referees of failing to keep pace with the professionalisation of women’s football and urged the Football Association to address the Women’s Super League officiating standards.
After seeing her team lose to a controversial penalty, Stoney was joined by Chelsea and England striker Beth England in strongly criticising the performance of referee Jack Packman, a third replacement after two other officials pulled out through tonsillitis and injury.
“The league needs to look at it,” said England, who referenced two studs-up tackles. “Where is the protection for the players? The decisions, for me, were embarrassing. We want to put in good performances and, when referees are giving bad decisions that are killing the game, it’s hard. I thought they were appalling.”
The frustrations centred on two incidents. United defender Amy Turner had already been booked when she was penalised for a tackle that her team-mates were convinced was not a foul. Packman awarded a free-kick but then booked Abbie Mcmanus instead, leaving Chelsea aggrieved that Turner was not dismissed for a second yellow card.
Then, in the decisive moment of the match, Packman ruled that Millie Turner had upended Fran Kirby and gave a penalty. Maren Mjelde duly stepped up to score the winner, which put Chelsea back ahead of Manchester City at the top of the table.
Stoney took her time before speaking to the media – first overseeing some shuttle runs among a group of United players – but remained visibly seething. Her team had created the best first-half chances and were unlucky not to level in the closing minutes when Ann-katrin Berger tipped Ella Toone’s volley on to the crossbar. The ball then bounced off Berger’s back and was close to crossing the line before being cleared.
“I’ll get fined if I said what I want to say,” said Stoney. “We are a professional game. We have to address the level of refereeing. My players are honest, hard-working, driven – they deserve better than that. It was a 90-minute poor performance. He [Packman] has apologised but that’s too late.”
Of the decisive penalty, Stoney said: “The only person in the ground who saw it as a penalty is the referee. Give yourself time to make a big decision. We all make mistakes – I do, my players do – but it’s a big one.”
Both Stoney and England stressed that they did not see Packman’s performance as an isolated issue on a day when an attendance of 4,790 at the Kingsmeadow Stadium was the highest in WSL history outside of a Premier League ground. “I’m annoyed I have to talk about the poor officiating when we should be talking about the crowds, the quality of the game, the speed of the game, the outstanding play,” said Stoney. “The game has professionalised and the officiating hasn’t moved forward in my opinion.”
Kirsty Hanson, Lauren James and Jackie Groenen all had chances to give United a first-half lead but Chelsea enjoyed control either side of half-time. Kirby had only just been brought on when her run provoked the challenge for Chelsea’s penalty.
At the end of a week in which Chelsea signed Australia international and Ballon d’or nominee Sam Kerr, manager Emma Hayes highlighted the influence of Wales international Sophie Ingle’s defensive midfield performance.
“She doesn’t get the recognition because she is not English but should be one of the first names on Phil Neville’s list for the Olympics,” said Hayes.
Chelsea
Booked Manchester United
Referee