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 Friday
9th November 2005By Paul Mosley
Dermot Gallagher, originally from Dublin but now based in Banbury in Oxfordshire, is in his final season on the Select Group of referees as he has reached the retirement age of 48. He is taking charge of his 2nd Newcastle game of the season, having been drafted in as a late replacement for Barry Knight when we took on West Ham United in August. Form Guide This season Dermot has refereed 6 Premiership games, and issued red cards in the first three of them, which means he has already matched his total from the whole of the last Premier League season. These were to Paul Konchesky when West Ham visited Newcastle (more of which later), Lucas Neill when Blackburn took on Tottenham, and to Nicky Butt in Birmingham’s trip to Portsmouth. His 6 Premier League games this season have resulted in 3 home wins and 3 draws. In those 6, however, he has been a late replacement on 3 occasions, only being originally appointed to Portsmouth v Birmingham, Tottenham v Everton and Manchester City v Aston Villa. On the other occasions he replaced Barry Knight, Chris Foy and Steve Bennett at short notice respectively. Background Dermot became a FIFA referee in 1994 and was on the list for 9 years before he reached the retirement age of 45 in 2002, having refereed 14 international matches, 9 international cup finals and many European matches. He has been on the Football League list since 1990, and on the Premier League list since it began back in 1992. He also refereed the U20 World Cup Final in 1995, the FA Charity Shield in the same year, the 1996 FA Cup Final and also refereed at Euro 96. Dermot and Newcastle Dermot has been around a long time, so as a result there are likely to be games missing from the records I have, so just use the figures given as a rough guide. I can find 22 Newcastle games Dermot has refereed, which consists of 10 wins, 6 draws and 6 defeats (45% win rate). Of those 22, 16 were home matches (resulting in 8 wins, 5 draws and 3 defeats, 50% win rate), 18 were Premiership matches (resulting in 9 wins, 5 draws and 4 defeats, 50% win rate) and 14 were home Premiership matches (resulting in 8 wins, 4 draws and 2 defeats, 57% win rate). He has shown 3 red cards apiece to Newcastle and our opponents over those 22 matches, with 2 of our red cards being at St James Park, and all of the opposition’s being on Tyneside. He has also awarded 2 penalties to our opponents, one at Gallowgate, but none to us. He has shown an average of 1 yellow card to Newcastle players per game, and 1.5 to opposition players per game. Controversy In May 1995 Dermot refereed our home game with Tottenham, as we looked to end the season in a UEFA Cup spot. The match was a pulsating affair, with goals from Gillespie and Peacock giving us a 2-0 lead before a triple-salvo from Barmby, Anderton and Klinsmann put Spurs 3-2 up at the break. In the 2nd half Barmby got through on goal and was brought down by Pavel Srnicek, who was dismissed by Gallagher for Denying an Obvious Goalscoring Opportunity, and a penalty awarded. Sub keeper Mike Hooper’s 1st great act was to save Klinsmann’s penalty which could have put the game beyond doubt, and Beardsley’s late equaliser earned us a point. The next controversy occurred on the opening day of the 98/99 season and Charlton Athletic’s Premiership debut at St James’ Park. He dismissed Richard Rufus of Charlton for Violent Conduct against Nikos Dabizas, but we lacked sparkle and Charlton held on for a point. Later in that season he refereed our 4-3 win at Derby, awarding the Rams a penalty. What do Dermot and last week’s referee Alan Wiley have in common? They are the only referees to dismiss Warren Barton in his Premiership career. Gallagher committed the sin when he took charge of our 1st game at the redeveloped 52000+ capacity St James against Derby County in August 2000. Barton gave the ball away to Deon Burton, who then tried to get away but wasn’t allowed to as Barton tugged at his shirt. As Barton had Denied an Obvious Goalscoring Opportunity, he had to be sent off. 2002/03, and a red card apiece for Newcastle and their opponents. The one to the opposition came on New Year’s Day as Liverpool made the trip to St James Park. Salif Diao was sent off for the reds, a decision which Gerard Houllier couldn’t even complain about. Then we went to Fulham and went 1-0 up in the 1st half through Shearer, while Dermot failed to award us what appeared a blatant penalty, before Andy Griffin decided to ludicrously barge Luis Boa Morte off the park and was dismissed. We went on to lose 2-1, seriously damaging our Champions League aspirations, although we did hold on to finish 3rd. The final major controversy was in his only other Newcastle game this season, against West Ham United. Early in the 2nd half, Jermaine Jenas broke forward and was looking towards goal when Paul Konchesky challenged him brilliantly just outside the area. Dermot was around 50 yards from play yet inexplicably called a foul, and after consulting with assistant James Tattan, Konchesky was dismissed for Denying an Obvious Goalscoring Opportunity. Dermot later realised the error in his ways and rescinded the card, but it was too late on the day and the game petered out into a 0-0 bore draw. Dermot and Arsenal I can find 27 Arsenal games Dermot has refereed, of which they have won 20, drawn 1 and lost 6 (74% win rate). All of the draws and defeats came on their travels, where they have won 12 of their 19 away games (63% win rate). As far as Premiership games are concerned, he has refereed 24 of them, of which they have won 18, drawn 1 and lost 5 (75% win rate), with their away Premiership record being 11 wins, 1 draw and 5 defeats from 17 games (65% win rate). He has shown Arsenal players 2 red cards, both in away matches, with only one of these coming in the Premiership, while he has dismissed 4 players against Arsenal, 3 of these in the Premiership, 3 away from Highbury (one coming in the FA Cup at Preston), and 2 away from Highbury in the Premiership. He averages 1.26 yellow cards per game to Arsenal, and 1.37 to their opponents. Dermot and Newcastle vs Arsenal Dermot has refereed this fixture on one occasion, January 2nd 1996, when we ran out comfortable 2-0 winners through an early goal from David Ginola and an early 2nd half goal from Les Ferdinand. Conclusions Dermot Gallagher is well-respected by players, managers, authorities, colleagues and fans alike. He adopts a low key attitude to refereeing games, but isn’t afraid to bosh the cards when required. Fans like him because he shows sense and keeps the cards in his pocket unless it is absolutely necessary. He will be a big loss to the refereeing world when he retires at the end of this season. The players should beware very bright floodlights reflecting off his very bald shaven head, which he shaves once a day. Having recently surpassed 1000 professional games, Dermot can be relied upon to continue to produce the goods week-in, week-out. Newcastle vs Arsenal – History 04/05 – The man who has replaced Uriah Rennie as public enemy number 1 amongst Newcastle fans, Steve Bennett, turned up at St James Park just after Christmas and produced a poor performance in a tough game. Denied both sides penalties, Newcastle’s being a clear case when Ashley Cole handled in his own area, and allowed Arsenal players plenty of leeway before bringing out cards, while reaching straight for the book for an innocuous 1st foul by Steven Taylor. Arsenal won 1-0 with a goal from Patrick Vieira, and the Newcastle fans were left singing “1-0 to the referee”, so incensed were they by Bennett’s performance. 03/04 – In what was his last ‘big’ game as a Premiership referee before his retirement, Paul Durkin came all the way up from Portland in Dorset and had a superb game. The players respected him and it showed, as he was able to keep them under control and manage situations involving Bellamy until the closing seconds when he had to show Vieira a yellow card. The match ended 0-0, a real achievement for Newcastle in Arsenal’s unbeaten campaign. 02/03 – Neale Barry’s 1st in a series of Newcastle matches in a short space of time which saw him vilified by Newcastle fans was a 1-1 draw which dented Arsenal’s title hopes in February. Arsenal took a 1st half lead through Henry but Robert equalised early in the 2nd half, before crazily getting himself sent off for a daft challenge on Lauren, followed by blocking a Bergkamp free kick. Newcastle fans were livid and slammed Barry for the decision, but Robert could have no complaints. 01/02 (FA Cup) – The 2nd of 2 consecutive weekends on which we played Arsenal at Saturday tea-time saw us draw 1-1 in the FA Cup Quarter Final. Edu gave Arsenal an early lead, but Robert equalised early in the 2nd half, with referee Mark Halsey having a quiet day at the office. 01/02 – The 1st of 2 consecutive Neale Barry appointments to this fixture, and he had an easy time of it. Bergkamp’s exquisite turn of Dabizas and finish gave Arsenal an early lead, before Campbell doubled it shortly before half time. © Paul Mosley
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