Fergal Horgan "Retires"

Happyilylost

Random. Not my favourite as I felt his ego wanted him to be too involved in games but in an era where its hard keep refs it's disappointing to see.

RTE news : Referee Horgan retires over appointments 'farce'

http://www.rte.ie/sport/hurling/2023/0411/1376444-its-a-farce-horgan-retires-from-refereeing/

caddy16

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058292002/fergal-horgan-retires

Ego, are you sure you're not getting him confused with James Owens?? Horgan is probably the best hurling ref out there who also uses common sense. Big loss.

bucketybuck

People will probably shout "ego" but its good that he is up front about why he is finished, I'd be surprised if he is the only ref thinking those things.

Happyilylost

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120466859#Comment_120466859

Has he not done the same as Owens? Don't get the big games so I'm taking my ball and going home. Him thinking he should of gotten games he didn't means he feels he's better than his colleagues. Hints of ego to me.....

If his comments about refs getting games who failed fitness tests then there is merit to that element of the argument. However AFAIK referees get a number of chances at the fitness test so did they fail one or all or are they still doing them prior to championship.

I'm sure the "uneasy" refereeing colleagues could of done without those remarks unless he's willing to back it up with evidence. Shouts of you fat b*****d will probably be roared out to much laughter this summer after it.

jimmythesulk

A brutal ref. Not up to intercounty standard and looks like it has finally been realised. How he got do many big games is a mystery.

evolvingtipperary101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120466931#Comment_120466931

That you are of that opinion is the best compliment Fergal could ever get.

lertsnim

I won't miss him anyway.

caddy16

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120466931#Comment_120466931

Name a good ref?

Deskjockey

Bonfires being lit in Waterford tonight.

Happyilylost

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120466963#Comment_120466963

I won't go into good ref/bad ref. Buy in the current climate I would have some sympathy for Johhny Murphy. A Limerick man who currently has 0% chance of reffing and All Ireland Final!

cal naughton

Who's the ref that failed the fitness test?

jimmythesulk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120466963#Comment_120466963

O Dwyer and Kennan by far the two best refs around at the moment.

ACitizenErased

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120467085#Comment_120467085

Keenan is an embarrassment.

evolvingtipperary101

And we wonder why there's a problem getting and keeping refs in the game. Look at the state of these comments.

jimmythesulk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120467094#Comment_120467094

Watch how he reffed the Munster final last year. Best performance from a ref in modern times.

I wish him Best of luck in retirement, he did a tough & thankless job.

GAA need to start thinking of hiring a few professional referee’s & pay them well.

No referee’s, no matches.

caddy16

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120467098#Comment_120467098

My comment was to get an insight into who the poster who slated Horgan thinks is a good ref. Any hurling person from various counties I've spoken to always has Horgan near the top of the list.

washman3

Horgan is the best ref out there. Simple as. A big loss to the game. Hopefully me may reconsider in the near future.

Wish him the best either way and appreciate his contribution to some titanic battles over the years. A ref who was always in control.

1373

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120467098#Comment_120467098

Did you hear who got a suspension for abusing a referee recently ?

evolvingtipperary101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120467224#Comment_120467224

I've heard it from several people and I can't find any newspaper report or anything official to back it up online.

Dyr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120467175#Comment_120467175

Hire professional refs and umpires so we don't have to listen to the thankless-task-sure-he's-a-volunteer bolloxology when a ref gets stick for blatantly riding one side for an entire match.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120467360#Comment_120467360

That’s what I’m suggesting.

Billy Ocean

Big loss, up there with Sean Stack as the best around.

Iecrawfc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120467104#Comment_120467104

He missed at least 2 blatant reds, people were raving about it as 'he let the game flow' but in the next breath they'll be giving out about the illegal handpasses in the game! I think Horgan was the most common-sense ref out there, knew when to blow and when to let it go.

100% agree. Always thought he was good.

Ya and Owens does come across as having a bit if an ego but still does a decent job.

Pity the ref on Sunday couldn't spot some of shoulder high challenges during the match. Peter Casey the victim on more than one occasion

dr.kenneth noisewater

https://twitter.com/JohnFogartyIrl/status/1645894359081000961?s=20

..

evolvingtipperary101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120468121#Comment_120468121

As one reply says there, he obviously didn't listen to or read the interview.

Sheep breeder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120467094#Comment_120467094

Well said, bad at club level. Same as his father before him.

farmerval

Currently it's probably impossible to actually apply the rules in refereeing. Remember the rule any contact with a helmet is a red card from 5-8 years ago. Was that removed or conveniently shelved?

The deliberate foul rule inside the 21? If referees were to blow for every actual foul, games would never end.

All referee's are simply interpreting things as they see fit. Fergal Horgan was one of the referees that tried to keep the game moving. The last two matches that I was at (Tipp games) where James Owens was in charge he kept breaking the game up, blow a free, stand where the free is to be taken until the free taker is there, don't let the free be taken until he's in position, then wait while he logs the score before a puck out can be taken. There was no issue in what he adjudged to be fouls nor did he appear to favour either team, but he sucked all life from the game. If he ref'd every game, no-one would turn up.

The GAA has made zero effort to assist referees, they could take timing out of their hands, get the linemen involved more (at county level) The likes of John Keenan and Sean Cleere are poor ref's, but viable alternatives are thin on the ground. Whatever the reason for Fergal Horgan stepping down it's simply another disappointing step in what looks like an accelerating slide in providing a massively important cornerstone for our games.

The GAA seem locked into an awful mindset of this is always what we've done so we'll continue added to the absolute terror of being seen to learn from other sports.

1373

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120467581#Comment_120467581

I'd tolerate a ref missing things rather than a game destroyed by an over zealous whistle blower , people forget that 30 well trained players are missing things continuously as well during the 70 minutes

kippy

Damn near impossible to get refs into the game at any level in GAA. Fans with unrealistic expectations, lack of support for refs and officials and worst of all tonnes of abuse thrown at refs at all levels.

So losing one isn't to be applauded in anyway.

cnoc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120467224#Comment_120467224

Who,or at least give a clue?

caddy16

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120469535#Comment_120469535

When I found out this morning my sympathy for the man who this thread is about diminished!

jimmythesulk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120469652#Comment_120469652

Dont tell the fella from tipp who talks to himself over on the tipp thread. As Roy Keane would say he is nothing but a big baby.

Ya that thread is fairly light on posters...wonder why

Davys Fits

Reffing hurling is becoming an impossible task. Yes Fergal Horgan was a good ref but he let loads of fouls go so that the game could flow. He was under pressure to do that. Thats unfair on refs and not the road to the future. Its the rules we need to look at not the refs.

Billy Ocean

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120468169#Comment_120468169

What did the interview reveal?

evolvingtipperary101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120469652#Comment_120469652

What did you find out?

evolvingtipperary101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120471481#Comment_120471481

“I trained there since January. I did two matches in the League. [Another referee] was six weeks injured and came back and did three matches. That shouldn’t happen if you were doing your job right.

“Referees are very uneasy. I am one of the referees that stepped away in the last few weeks. Big decision for me to step away.

“For Croke Park or whoever wants to take note of what is going on, it might take one or two more [to quit], but I know for a fact a lot of referees in football and hurling are not happy with the way things are going at the moment. I can see why.

“Personally, at the moment it is a farce what is going on there.” 

His departure, he believes, will enable more games to be given to referees from Leinster and Connacht. It's an imbalanced trend he claims has been going on for two years.

When relaying news of his retirement to Croke Park. Horgan said there was silence in return.

“I got no response from the referees chairman or no response from anyone involved in CRAC. Donal Smyth (the GAA’s national match officials manager) gave me a phone call when I text him the first night. After I text him to say I wouldn’t be back, he never text me back.

“I got no contact from Croke Park the last two weeks. That told me where I stand in their community. I will say to anyone that I am disappointed with the way I was treated, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody.

“I am very disappointed with the way Croke Park treat referees. There is no support there for referees. I couldn’t see why anybody would referee in the future.” 

Horgan’s mid-season departure means the 2023 hurling referees championship panel has reduced from 12 to 11 in size.

Gusser09

Absolute arrogance and ego of that interview he gave. Leave him off and he wont be asked to come back wither. Toys out of the pram stuff. James McGrath done something similar and he was forgotten about quick enough.

Where do these lads het notions from. Basically Horgan wanted all the big games and thats it. Threatened croke park to walk away and they left him off.

He's the only one who will miss out.

Gusser09

The one thing we need to do in hurling is remove the handpass and let lads throw the ball with an under hand action. They all do it anyway. Lads reffing in thurles and croke pk dont enforce it yet the lad doing junior b on a monday gets abused for not enforcing. Ffs.

Who got banned for abusing a ref? Dont say that without letting us know.

jimmythesulk

What a terrible interview to give. Talk about arrogance and self importance. Is he looking for someone to beg him to change his mind in order to boost his ego?

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120471797#Comment_120471797

That's pretty much it. The powers that be will be to thick after that interview to even consider asking him back. A lad who has done 3 All Irelands and 2 Clubs in 5 years complaining about not getting big games? Mad stuff.

You'd wonder what had gone on to lead up to this and him not getting awarded games for the last few months.

evolvingtipperary101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120471987#Comment_120471987

He never said anything about big games? This is at the centre of the problem. People taking their own notions as gospel without being able to understand what people are trying to get across.

Just mindless stuff.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120471997#Comment_120471997

I can guarantee you he'd still be giving out if he were be asked to ref Cavan v Warickshire.

Stop now. The interview was appalling. He has burned his bridges well and truly.

evolvingtipperary101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120472003#Comment_120472003

In your opinion. An opinion that totally ignores the actual points made in the interview. You couldn't make it up. Well, actually you do.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120472028#Comment_120472028

I haven't ignored any points made in the interview. Zero.

Fergal has come across extremely arrogant and egotistical. Now if you want to go in to them individually feel free. The fitness test comment has no merit. There are multiple fitness tests a year. Part of getting referees back up to speed is to give them games and an opportunity to build this fitness. As much as Fergal would like to referee all of the championship matches he can't so we need other lads available and getting games. He should have kept his views and comments in house and wouldn't have looked so childish.

newhouse87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120472043#Comment_120472043

Would it not be appropriate to be fit before the match rather then try get fit during a match so you will be fit for the next match?

evolvingtipperary101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120472043#Comment_120472043

Why did he get only two games during the league when a ref who was injured for 6 weeks of the league got three?

What's the point of a ref bursting his arse to be fit throughout January and Feb, not to be used?

Why didn't they respond to Fergal when he said he was retired?

Why is a man who reffed three all-irelands and a great servant as a ref for club and inter county not worthy of a basic response?

Why are you making up points about big games? Fergal never mentioned big games in the interview? He never mentioned the hurling championship at all. It's all about the league. Why are you commenting on an interview you clearly didn't read?

He only referenced championship in relation to football: "Horgan also mentioned the story broken by the Irish Examiner last Friday about a football referee being assigned a provincial championship game last weekend despite failing the pre-championship fitness test, noting how this decision did not sit well among top level referees."

evolvingtipperary101

I'll defer to Brian Gavin here to cut through some of the nonsense being said about Fergal Horgan and the points he made in the interview. Every point made by Horgan is backed up by Gavin here (I'm sure some people on here know more than a man who has given a lot of his life to reffin' hurling though):

That the best hurling referee in the country this week announced he had quit and claimed on his way out the door that there is zero support for referees from top brass is evidence plenty that refereeing is not high up the Croke Park agenda, Gavin added.

“The refereeing standard is not up to the standard of our games at the moment. And it is all because of a lack of finance and lack of structure from Croke Park to improve the standard of refereeing,” said Gavin.

“There is not even a plan for county referees. It is up to each county to do their own thing.” The Offaly native said the Croke Park approach to refereeing has taken all joy out of officiating.

“Take the fitness test, and there is a doubt about it after what happened last weekend when a referee was given a championship game despite failing the test, but why are we setting rules and tests?

“If a referee does a national league game, you'll surely know after 75 minutes if that man is fit to referee or not.

“And if he's not, why isn't Croke Park making sure he’s training twice a week with fellow referees, and look after them in terms of expenses and a meal after training, like inter-county players. All we are doing is setting rules and tests to turn people off.” Three-time hurling final referee Horgan cited an imbalanced appointments process as a factor in his decision to retire.

Gavin argued that decisions based on geography rather than ability will crop up until such time as CRAC is disbanded.

“Let's call a spade a spade, some of the appointments - league games, in particular - would be because of where the referee is from and who is trying to push him in which province.

“What we need is a three or four-man independent body that has no ties to any provincial administrator or committee.” Referees not being allowed to take charge of inter-county games once they have reached the age of 50 was described as “farcical”. Gavin also claimed that Croke Park does not want to add new referees to the national panel who are older than 35.

“You can either referee or you can't. We are gone away from that. What we have now is whether he can referee a game or whether he can be a robot to Croke Park.

“We are crying out for referees and here we are eliminating fellas, eliminating the best fellas. There really needs to be leadership from the top. I'd be hoping Jarlath Burns will take this issue by the scruff of the neck.”

Gusser09

https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/other/referees-committee-hit-back-over-fergal-horgan-s-criticism-of-appointments/ar-AA19Qnan?li=BBr5HCV

GAA have hit back.Wouldn't have expected this from them either. Usually they'd keep quiet and let it blow over.

I hope Fergal hasn't done permanent damage here as he is a decent ref. Hard to see him back though after his comments. @Evolvingtipperary10 you seem to have a personal knowledge of this. Will he make an approach to come back?