Hamilton demands action on refs

The former Northern Ireland international has felt aggrieved at decisions which have gone against his side in recent weeks and has called for stricter penalties on officials who aren’t performing.

“Irish League referees, at the minute, aren’t really having to answer to anyone,” he said. “Every other person involved in football is subject to punishment if they aren’t performing - players get dropped, managers get sacked and in England, if a referee has a bad game, he’ll not referee a Premier League game for another two or three weeks.

“I understand we don’t have a big pool of officials to select from but if they have a bad game they should be put down to the league below. In any job, if you’re not doing it well something happens to make you buck up your ideas.

“All managers are saying the same things as well, it’s not just me.”

Hamilton also wants the IFA to make the reports on refereeing performances available to the clubs themselves as, in the Irish League, it is the home club which pays the wages of the match officials.

“At the managers’ meeting we have been saying that we want to see the assessor’s reports,” he said.

“Currently, the IFA isn’t allowing clubs to see those. In England the referees are paid full-time by the FA but here, they are paid by the clubs. There is no other line of work that people pay somebody to do a job and don’t get feedback on how they’re doing.

“It would be different if the IFA were paying their wages, then it’s their responsibility but the clubs are paying them so it’s different. When the officials are under performing, the clubs at least want to see a report on that rather than nothing being done.”

Hamilton was disappointed with referee Raymond Crangle’s performance in his side’s defeat to Linfield.

“We’re not making excuses. It’s the same every week. Big decisions are costing us. For Ciaran Martyn’s sending off, the Linfield player told him after the game that he dived. Even for a second yellow I thought it was harsh because he was trying to get out of the way and there’s nothing he could do about it.

“Things are happening to us every week. Whenever decisions go against us and are right, I’ll hold my hands up.

“On Boxing Day I said Conor Hagan should have been sent off and it was a penalty kick as well.”

Hamilton added, “Against Portadown we had two disallowed goals that if you look back at were onside. That game should have finished 2-2 because we had two perfectly good goals disallowed. The linesman has made the wrong decision.

“Then there was a hand ball that wasn’t given and Portadown go straight up the pitch and we have a man sent off.

“We’re not arguing with the sending off, it’s the decision before that. It seems to be happening to us every week and is costing us game after game. People say these things even themselves out but if they do, we’re in for a lot of decisions in our favour over the remainder of the season.”