Published: Wednesday, 16th September, 2009 5:00pm

END TO END: Ref justice another of our ailments

Wanted: Free way to keep fit, earn some pocket money and possibly play a key role in some of the biggest matches in sporting history, without ever having been any good at actually playing the game.

Perks must include a meal allowance - often cashed in at a later date if your travelling schedule doesn't suit on the day itself - and generous mileage payments, All Ireland final tickets and a high personal profile, possibly nationally if you ascend to a sufficiently high rung on the ladder.

Applications for the role of football referee welcome. No experience necessary, although a thick skin is preferable. Whistle and guide dog will be provided.

Of course, we write this tongue-in-cheek. Refereeing is a tough role, and a thankless one, with the ref, who is a volunteer, remember, and an essential cog in the overall wheel, usually only getting mentioned in reports when they make a mistake.

Does that, however, make referees untouchable and above criticism or comment? Of course not.

A player who misses a succession of shots, concedes some poor scores or is guilty of indiscipline will be criticised, and refs should be open to some level of meaningful assessment too. Club football is a serious business nowadays, with whole clubs fundraising and investing heavily in their senior teams and, with some exceptions, the standard of refereeing in this county has been deplorable in this season's club championships.

The whistlers are never the most popular among supporters, of course, with human nature dictating that those on the losing side are always going to look to deflect the blame away from their own shortcomings.

However, there has been a general feeling of absolute exasperation this season. Referees are only human and mistakes, of course, are inevitable, but some of the performances of the men in the middle have been indefensible. In some matches, it has reached a stage where, on hearing the whistle, supporters are unsure which way a free-kick will be given. In the time-honoured tradition, referees bring their own team of umpires to matches, yet time and again we have watched these same umpires stand idly by and ignore foul play.

Memo to the men in white coats: your job is not merely to decide whether the flag should be green or white and to wave it accordingly. Persistent fouling by defenders destroys the spectacle of free-flowing Gaelic football and all seven officials should be vigilant in protecting skilful players.

The sad thing is, we are in danger of reaching a point whereby the whole thing is accepted. The Cavan football scene is almost like the world of pro boxing in that things have gotten so bad that there is almost an air of apathy about the whole thing.

Poor refs, rubbish games, indiscipline… We're becoming almost used to it.

Look at it this way, bar the usual grumbling and a half-hearted attempt to oust the senior manager, there has been no real backlash to the annus horribilis Cavan football has endured this season.

Let's examine briefly the last 12 months. Leaving the debacle that was our senior inter-county season aside, Cavan's county minors, juniors and Under 21s and senior, intermediate and junior club champions won one championship match between them in their last campaign in what may well have been the worst year in our history.

That's a drastic situation and the club championships failed to provide any chink of light, with the standard of play slipping even further and that of officiating having positively fallen off the charts. If supporters coming to a match can't even trust a referee to make the right decisions, what chance have we of ever restoring the county to it's former glories?

No one individual is to blame for the rot Cavan football is in and there are good people in place in clubs and at county level, striving to put things right. What is needed is an honest, warts and all assessment of where we are at and some brave decisions.

The problem with referees is, in the overall scheme of things, fairly trivial and is only highlighted here because it is indicative of the whole mess. We lurch from one thing to the next and standards progressively worsen, across the board. Different organs fail, little by little, and the prognosis for recovery worsens.

It has been a surreal summer and an alarming one. Let's face the hard, cold reality of the situation; this has been another utterly forgettable season on the Cavan club championship scene.

Too many lifeless matches, too many non-events played out in the eerie surroundings of a 30,000-seater stadium with just a few hundred voices echoing aimlessly from stand to terrace to tunnel.

The buzz just isn't there, among supporters or players. Ask yourself, how many club championships matches in Cavan have you attended where the atmosphere has been flat, the fare on the field lifeless and dull? The majority, it seems, fit that bill.

Very sad, but very true. This column, as one of the many disappointed fan of Cavan football, doesn't have the answers. Perhaps next Saturday's senior semi-finals will give us something to cheer about, a glimmer of light to ignite the passion again. Maybe the Gaels and Kilygarry will meet at full tilt and produce an exuberant epic, or Mullahoran and Denn will serve up a game for the ages to whet our appetite again. Maybe…

One thing is for sure, something needs to.

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