Keith Hackett hailed referee Sam Allison for his efforts in Leeds United’s victory over Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night.
Patrick Bamford and Wilfried Gnonto scored for the Whites in a 2-0 victory at Hillsborough, with no major incident.
According to former FIFA official Hackett, this was due to the referee’s performance on the night, as he praised him on his personal Twitter account (8 March).
“I am often accused of failing to praise referees,” he wrote in an email.
“In the match between Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United, Sam Allison gave an excellent performance.
“Well done to him and I hope that he gets another game in the Premier League.”
Leeds United won with minimal fuss.
It’s been a long time since any club’s fans can recall a match in which the referee didn’t want to be the center of attention.
Allison did an excellent job throughout the game at Hillsborough, where the fans were noisy and both passionate about their team’s victory, with several heavy tackles and a high level of energy.
He let both teams play, took advantage where it was justified, and stayed mostly out of the way, which is what you want from a referee.
With no controversial decisions to make, Leeds were able to let their quality shine through on the pitch, resulting in a great performance and a convincing victory.
If every game was like that, spectators would be thrilled, and VAR would probably not be such a hot topic as it is now, so congratulations to Sam Allison for improving the game.
