Richard Keys and Andy Gray have found themselves in hot water over what they thought were off air comments about a female lino’s ability to officiate.
They thought that their mics were off, and proceeded to tear into Sian Massey with Keys saying “somebody better get down there and explain offside to her”, before Gray replied with “women don’t know the offside rule”. Turns out, Massey knows the offside rule to the letter, as she got a crucial borderline call spot on in the build up to Liverpool’s opening goal against Wolves. It’s good to see that Sky have come down with a punishment on their presenting duo, and maybe they’ll think before they speak next time.
Robbie Savage has today said on twitter that “Sian Massey has been a Lino in some of my derby games , she was exceptionally good”, and “You have to judge the person on ability and decision making” which is exactly right.
Although football is a hugely male dominated sport, and while the male and female games will probably always be kept separate, wherever possible we need to make sure that the best possible people are running the game. If that means that we have a female linesman (whoops, let’s just say lino) or referee then so be it, as long as she is the best person for the job. In my opinion Sian Massey proved herself worthy of her selection the other day.
The women’s game has come on a lot in recent years, and you could argue with some justification that Hope Powell (England Ladies national coach) has been the most successful English manager of the past decade. The upcoming Women’s Super League starting in April will bring the ladies game even further to the fore and probably encourage more girls to take part, which can only be a good thing and I expect we’ll see a lot more women involved in officiating the men’s game in years to come.