Controversial choice to referee Albion's derby clash with Palace

11:00am Tuesday 12th March 2013 in Sport By Andy Naylor

Ashley Barnes is sent off by Craig Pawson last season Ashley Barnes is sent off by Craig Pawson last season

Craig Pawson has been controversially appointed to take charge of Albion’s derby against Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Pawson upset Seagulls chief Gus Poyet and angered fans by showing red cards to Romain Vincelot and Ashley Barnes in the opening 12 minutes against Burnley on his previous visit to The Amex last season.

The appointment will not go down well with Palace manager Ian Holloway either. He was sent-off by Pawson when in charge of Blackpool in a game against Birmingham in December 2011.

Pawson is highly rated by his superiors. He was handed his first Premier League fixture earlier this month after refereeing last season’s League Two play-off final.

Comments(33)

graham w says...
11:07am Tue 12 Mar 13

oh no not another crap ref, why, oh why, are the FA PUNISHING US SO MUCH.. some times i really do think they have it in for us.....

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Seagulls Over Surrey (SOS) says...
11:14am Tue 12 Mar 13

Welcome back to Brighton Mr Pawson; I hope you enjoy your trip (do you see what I did there?!?!)

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Tony the tiger eastbourne says...
11:18am Tue 12 Mar 13

Well at least Barnes won't worry about being sent off again!!

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PressBoxTeaBoy says...
11:20am Tue 12 Mar 13

Don't worry Ulloa will trip him up. He be carried off injured.

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fansince57 says...
11:54am Tue 12 Mar 13

This is appalling - and deliberately provocative by the Football League appointments people. Pawson was by far the worst referee we've had at the Amex - not only bad decisions but had no control of the game (v Burnley last year). All you can say about him is that he's brave to dare show his face again in Brighton. For the Palace game we needed an experienced, calm-headed ref. What odds are the bookies giving on there being 22 players on the pitch at the end?

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phumps says...
11:56am Tue 12 Mar 13

It's a ref as long as we are disciplined enough not to give him any reasons shouldn't matter a jot who it is I'd rather Gus concentrated his efforts on nullifying bolasie and Murray than who is reffing game !!

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mark by the sea says...
12:02pm Tue 12 Mar 13

Not a lot of stories for tonight then?
Barnsley don't have a recognised left back after selling there best defender to Everton, give lua lua a run on right wing.

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Old Scrote of the Amex says...
12:06pm Tue 12 Mar 13

mark by the sea wrote:
Not a lot of stories for tonight then?
Barnsley don't have a recognised left back after selling there best defender to Everton, give lua lua a run on right wing.
Keep Buckley there - it could be just the catalyst to restart his early-season form.

I can't even begin to predict what might happen tonight. I can see any result occurring, from a comfortable win through to an embarrassing defeat. It's never boring being an Albion fan!

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tinker111 says...
12:12pm Tue 12 Mar 13

Old Scrote of the Amex wrote:
mark by the sea wrote:
Not a lot of stories for tonight then?
Barnsley don't have a recognised left back after selling there best defender to Everton, give lua lua a run on right wing.
Keep Buckley there - it could be just the catalyst to restart his early-season form.

I can't even begin to predict what might happen tonight. I can see any result occurring, from a comfortable win through to an embarrassing defeat. It's never boring being an Albion fan!
DRAW

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Willie, Willie Irvine says...
12:25pm Tue 12 Mar 13

tinker111 wrote:
Old Scrote of the Amex wrote:
mark by the sea wrote: Not a lot of stories for tonight then? Barnsley don't have a recognised left back after selling there best defender to Everton, give lua lua a run on right wing.
Keep Buckley there - it could be just the catalyst to restart his early-season form. I can't even begin to predict what might happen tonight. I can see any result occurring, from a comfortable win through to an embarrassing defeat. It's never boring being an Albion fan!
DRAW
Yep, 5-5...

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smallie says...
12:40pm Tue 12 Mar 13

Aother incompetent fool in charge.When are ex players going to ref games,most umpires in cricket were ex players.

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mr punch says...
12:50pm Tue 12 Mar 13

Why the big hoo haa about which ref it is? I'm sorry I don't get it, the Argus is already starting to wind ppl up with this story. So he had a bad day lastyear, so what. Graham Poll booked the same player three times in the euro's, a bad day. Can't remember he name of the ref at the last WC final at this very moment in time but he had a nightmare and sad after that "It was the worst 24 hours of m life". These things happen, get over it!!!
I agree that it could be a volatile atmosphere/game but ffs lads, get on with it! UTA

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mr punch says...
12:51pm Tue 12 Mar 13

smallie wrote:
Aother incompetent fool in charge.When are ex players going to ref games,most umpires in cricket were ex players.
That my an..... is an excellent point!

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PressBoxTeaBoy says...
1:19pm Tue 12 Mar 13

smallie wrote:
Aother incompetent fool in charge.When are ex players going to ref games,most umpires in cricket were ex players.
When they start paying 10 grand a week !

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Clean Sheet says...
1:53pm Tue 12 Mar 13

mr punch wrote:
Why the big hoo haa about which ref it is? I'm sorry I don't get it, the Argus is already starting to wind ppl up with this story. So he had a bad day lastyear, so what. Graham Poll booked the same player three times in the euro's, a bad day. Can't remember he name of the ref at the last WC final at this very moment in time but he had a nightmare and sad after that "It was the worst 24 hours of m life". These things happen, get over it!!! I agree that it could be a volatile atmosphere/game but ffs lads, get on with it! UTA
+1. Be professional, and don't give the officials the opportunity to take action. Simples

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Joel'sGrandad says...
2:09pm Tue 12 Mar 13

This is a non story. Forget who the ref is, just don't get rattled if things go a bit pear shaped. The players need to stay calm and professional and not react to anything that happens on the pitch or what the ref does. Simple.

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Old Scrote of the Amex says...
2:21pm Tue 12 Mar 13

smallie wrote:
Aother incompetent fool in charge.When are ex players going to ref games,most umpires in cricket were ex players.
You've only got to watch a game or listen to Alan Shearer to know that a players and ex-player don't know the rules. Cricketers TEND to be a more intelligent/educated bunch.

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Old Scrote of the Amex says...
2:22pm Tue 12 Mar 13

mr punch wrote:
Why the big hoo haa about which ref it is? I'm sorry I don't get it, the Argus is already starting to wind ppl up with this story. So he had a bad day lastyear, so what. Graham Poll booked the same player three times in the euro's, a bad day. Can't remember he name of the ref at the last WC final at this very moment in time but he had a nightmare and sad after that "It was the worst 24 hours of m life". These things happen, get over it!!!
I agree that it could be a volatile atmosphere/game but ffs lads, get on with it! UTA
If you mean Howard Webb, what did he do wrong in the World Cup Final?

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B rian Tawses left foot says...
2:34pm Tue 12 Mar 13

smallie says...
12:40pm Tue 12 Mar 13

Aother incompetent fool in charge.When are ex players going to ref games,most umpires in cricket were ex players.”

What utter rot. Referees are highly trained, well paid and far from the 'incompetent fools' that Sir Alex and highly partisan supporters presume them to be. Such statements merely sound like frightened fans making excuses before a ball has been kicked.,






Quote » | Report this post »

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Willie, Willie Irvine says...
2:37pm Tue 12 Mar 13

Old Scrote of the Amex wrote:
smallie wrote: Aother incompetent fool in charge.When are ex players going to ref games,most umpires in cricket were ex players.
You've only got to watch a game or listen to Alan Shearer to know that a players and ex-player don't know the rules. Cricketers TEND to be a more intelligent/educated bunch.
I'm not so sure Old Scrote. If an ex-cricketer reffed our match, Barnes would probably be off for LBR - leg before ref...or even LAR, leg after ref!

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bill porter says...
2:51pm Tue 12 Mar 13

So this ref correctly sent off Vincelot last season and the main issue with the Barnes sending off was that the other bloke should have gone as well. Don't see the problem myself.

If anything it is more likely to play on the ref's mind and make him more biased towards the Albion

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Yorkieseagull says...
3:27pm Tue 12 Mar 13

Talk about getting your excuses in early .... we have a game tonight and another one on Sunday. Both teams are subjected to the same rules and requirements to play the game, respect the rules and the officials, and everything else is down to talent and application. Seriously, does anybody believe that Mr Pawson is plotting to officiate this game any differently to any other game?

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bikerjimbo says...
3:39pm Tue 12 Mar 13

The refs in the championship are not that good so it doesn't matter that much. It seems it's a bit like a box of chocolates you really don't know how they are ging to perform. My hope is that Mr. Pawson is fair but I do expect sendings off because of this derby game. Players are likely to lose their heads it happens in derbys but lets hope its not BHA. Good result for us and I think we will make the play offs. We fans have got to play our part and lift our team UTA

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upsidedowntuctuc says...
4:27pm Tue 12 Mar 13

Bet his number is in Fergie's black book already.
Another crap referee we will have to put up with for years to come. When will they let ex players appoint referee's instead of these faceless Muppet's

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Grumpy Old Cyclist says...
4:58pm Tue 12 Mar 13

Brighton fans must be getting really desperate. Give the ref a chance. No wonder the players have no respect for officals with newspaper articles like this. Football a game played by rich tax avoiding morons and watched by even bigger morons.

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88albion says...
5:03pm Tue 12 Mar 13

To be honest the best way to approach this game which I'm sure Gus will do anyway is to concentrate on beating the opposition and ensuring that the team are disciplined enough not to give the ref any reasons to be cautioned or sent off.

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Andy Structible says...
5:27pm Tue 12 Mar 13

mr punch wrote:
Why the big hoo haa about which ref it is? I'm sorry I don't get it, the Argus is already starting to wind ppl up with this story. So he had a bad day lastyear, so what. Graham Poll booked the same player three times in the euro's, a bad day. Can't remember he name of the ref at the last WC final at this very moment in time but he had a nightmare and sad after that "It was the worst 24 hours of m life". These things happen, get over it!!!
I agree that it could be a volatile atmosphere/game but ffs lads, get on with it! UTA
Couldn't agree more. Let's focus on getting a vital three points tonight as oppose to worrying about who the ref is.

COYS

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Far gull says...
5:28pm Tue 12 Mar 13

Come on albion tonight ,we all need a post snow day pick me up.
Have just been on albion web site and it says tickets still available for C Palace game!!! perhaps argus would be a good idea to run a thread between now and sunday on this issue. Am slightly perplexed that in our current position and arguably the biggest game of the season ,we are not sold out!
Has fan base plateaued out at present? are ticket prices in current climate to high? Am just concerned to attract in coming loan or players where ever we are next season , we must surely play to full houses ?
Any other bloggers got views on this?

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mark by the sea says...
5:34pm Tue 12 Mar 13

Far gull wrote:
Come on albion tonight ,we all need a post snow day pick me up.
Have just been on albion web site and it says tickets still available for C Palace game!!! perhaps argus would be a good idea to run a thread between now and sunday on this issue. Am slightly perplexed that in our current position and arguably the biggest game of the season ,we are not sold out!
Has fan base plateaued out at present? are ticket prices in current climate to high? Am just concerned to attract in coming loan or players where ever we are next season , we must surely play to full houses ?
Any other bloggers got views on this?
Think it's about trouble on the trains, club and police have made a blog telling fans how they will police it! But I have not seen or heard anything about it...
I really hope they keep palace in for a hour and allow the decent fans a chance to leave the area, if as they have done so, and allow everyone out at the same time, there will be carnage, especially with less frequent trains.

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Bill in Hanover says...
6:24pm Tue 12 Mar 13

A Derby match is a game between two teams from the same city, I know Brighton Council is trying to empire build with their idea of a Greater Brighton & Hove but it won't extend to Thornton Heath

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barnieb says...
10:01pm Tue 12 Mar 13

Not getting a warm cosy feeling about the Palace game.The ref definately has it in for Brighton ref the Burnley game.Think he will go completely over the top in giving every decision Palace's way as if to prove he didnt make a mistake in sending off 2 Albion players last time he was here.Also Dobbie to prove a point and score also the best striker in this division by a country mile,Glenn Murray (still mystified why Gus never rated him)to also score.We will need 3,any ideas where the goals are coming from.from the team with less goals scored than Peterborough..

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Baldseagull says...
10:06pm Tue 12 Mar 13

Bill in Hanover wrote:
A Derby match is a game between two teams from the same city, I know Brighton Council is trying to empire build with their idea of a Greater Brighton & Hove but it won't extend to Thornton Heath
Where did you get that a Derby match is one played between teams from the same city?
Newcastle V Sunderland, Portsmouth v Southampton and Blackpool V PNE are all Derby matches and Wrexham V Chester is a derby between clubs in different countries.

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Neville says...
1:28pm Wed 13 Mar 13

There is a police limit of 28500 spectators for this fixture due history and also whyit is 1200 ko to minimise any drinking time. Think you will find that this limit is reached in next day or so.

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