LAST UPDATE | 11 Mar 2021
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND international Alan Judge has angrily refuted the version of events put forward by referee Darren Drysdale during an FA investigation into an incident that saw the official square up to Judge during a League One game last month.
The referee claims Judge called him a ‘f***** cheating c**’ prior to Drysdale’s squaring up to the him, though Judge denies using the latter two words.
“I didn’t want to make anything of it because it’s a tough job being a referee but I’m not going to keep quiet when I’ve been accused of calling the referee a cheat and using the C word”, said Judge via a statement on the Ipswich website.
“I’ll admit using the F word but I said to him ‘you have got to be F…… joking me and I said that a couple of times to him. I never used the C word. I don’t use that word and I didn’t call him a cheat.”
Drysdale squared up to Judge and then appeared to lean his head into the him after Judge’s appeal for a penalty had been turned down in the closing stages of Ipswich’s game with Northampton at Portman Road on 16 February.
Drysdale subsequently apologised for his actions, with then Ipswich manager Paul Lambert having asked for the matter to be investigated.
Drysdale was today given a back-dated suspension and warned as to his future behaviour having admitted to a charge of improper conduct. He has not officiate a match since the incident, but will now be available to officiate again.
The written reasons behind the decision were also published by the FA, in which Drysdale offered an explanation of his behaviour. In his version of events, Drysdale said Judge “exaggerates his fall in a desperate attempt to gain a penalty kick for his team.” Continuing, he said “I then processed what had happened for a few seconds before blowing my whistle and decided to caution Alan Judge for an act of trying to deceive a match official.”
“As I blew my whistle Alan Judge shouted aggressively in a loud voice at me and from a distance of only 5 metres ‘It’s a ******* penalty you cheating bald ****!’
“Reacting completely out of character, I took exception to what I considered to be an offensive comment.
“I walked towards Alan Judge who then continued his tirade of abuse as he then, what I deemed as, aggressively and provokingly pointed his finger towards my face and shouted: ‘You’re a ****ing cheating ****!’.
“I accept that I should not have moved my head towards Alan Judge as this only inflamed the situation.
“At no time was there any physical contact between myself and Alan Judge.
“My action of moving forward was as a posture of authority and with the player being significantly shorter than me, this led to me looking down at him.
“I then issued a yellow card to Alan Judge for his exaggerated fall.”
Judge, however, refuted that version of events tonight, claiming his club have audio which will vindicate him.
“I said the incident was over as far as I was concerned when I walked off the pitch and that I wasn’t looking for an apology,” Alan told the Club website.
“I didn’t want to make anything of it because it’s a tough job being a referee but I’m not going to keep quiet when I’ve been accused of calling the referee a cheat and using the C word.
“I’ll admit using the F word but I said to him ‘you have got to be F…… joking me and I said that a couple of times to him. I never used the C word. I don’t use that word and I didn’t call him a cheat.
“My mum passed away last week – which is far more important than this – and I don’t need this hassle to be honest. Like I said, the matter was closed but I’ve got a decent reputation in the game and I won’t stand by and be accused of saying something I didn’t and not responding.
“Our media team have got some audio and it backs me up. Some people have said I should have come out straightaway and explained what I said but I didn’t want to do that. I was trying to help Darren. I said the matter was finished and it was but I have to make it clear now that I totally dispute what has been said by the referee.”
With reporting by PA
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