Blast from the Past

From time to time MUTV show programmes free to Sky subscribers. Memorably, they did it on the day of George Best’s funeral, providing a unique level of coverage of a special and very moving occasion which was widely appreciated. And on 28th December 2005, they offered a reprise of last season’s clash between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford, when the home side’s 2-0 victory deprived the Gunners of a 50th game unbeaten.

The passage of time allows a more measured response to such events and, liberated from the tension of the moment, it was easier to appreciate how closely matched the teams were and what a magnificent game it was – a game that could have gone either way.

That it went United’s way owed much to referee Mike Riley, who managed to conjure the home side a penalty from Sol Campbell’s non-existent challenge on Wayne Rooney – an opportunity which was gleefully accepted by Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who by that time had done enough to have been red carded twice over.

Riley’s performance was extraordinary, for all the wrong reasons. He began with a sort of benign tolerance, a period in which ‘anything goes’. Like schoolkids with a student teacher, the players took full advantage of the situation and Reyes in particular suffered, notably from the rigorous attentions of the Neville brothers. Riley also turned a benevolent eye upon last defender Rio Ferdinand’s blatant push when Freddie Ljunberg was through on goal and, like his linesman, managed ‘not to see’ when Van Nistelrooy produced a foul on Ashley Cole which was so brutal and calculated it cried out for a straight red card. Given that sort of licence, Van Nistelrooy happily went through his extensive repertoire of sly misdemeanours, including a second half trip and push on Lehmann which many other referees might also have considered worthy of a dismissal.

Then suddenly, as if someone had flicked a switch, we had another Riley, the disciplinarian, and for about five minutes there was a rash of yellow cards – some of them for relatively trivial offences compared to what had gone before. It was like a sort of mad version of Happy Hour – except that it wasn’t happy and it didn’t last, and by this time it was evident that Riley had forfeited any right to respect from the players, the managers and anyone who knows the game.

Watching this contest again, you simply can’t help wondering what the outcome might have been if it had been expertly refereed. And watching the MUTV version of it, you simply can’t help wondering whether any future commentary will be as shamelessly biased as Paddy Crerand’s. His ‘piece de resistance’ was his instinctive reaction to Van Nistelrooy’s challenge on Ashley Cole – an outraged “He never touched him”. Then, to his embarrassment, they ran the replay and we had all the evidence we needed to indicate that Paddy Crerand is to commentary what Mike Riley is to refereeing.