Town coach and legend back men in black

Nov 27 2008 by Mel Booth, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Murphy said it should be the responsibility of individual clubs to ensure officials were well looked after and enjoy their job.

He added: “If a club wants to better themselves – this mindset should be extended to referees. It should be their responsibility to look after them.

“I think each club should lay down a criteria where one player is responsible for looking after a referee from the moment they arrive at a ground to the moment they leave.”

Murphy said that having a qualified referee in charge of a game who may have had a poor performance would be better than having an untrainedofficial.

“I think it is a disgrace that a boy who has aspirations to become a good referee can be prevented from doing so because they are intimidated when people, for example, are criticising them.”

Town striker Andy Booth, who as a youngster played in the Huddersfield junior leagues, said he was very disappointed to have heard about the referee problem.