Seeing Red

by Graham Poll

Graham Poll's incisive insight into football is distinctive, coming from his prime position as the man in black, the one in control, the eye that sees all. A Premier League referee since 1991 and 10 years as an international referee, Graham Poll has handled some of the toughest games in the Premiership involving Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea, as well as European Championships and World Cups—in total more than 1500 matches. What is it like to referee the biggest matches in international football? What really goes on between the players in the tunnel before a match and in the dressing room after? Who are the nastiest footballers? And the funniest? Who is the smartest manager? And are the bureaucrats ruining the beautiful game? Controversial and opinionated, Poll has crossed swords with some of the biggest names in world football and shares private conversations with the likes of Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Sepp Blatter, and Steve McClaren, and the inside story behind controversial incidents involving Roy Keane, David Beckham, Patrick Vieira, and current England captain John Terry, among others. Poll also talks about the infamous 2006 World Cup match when he failed to send off a Croatian player after three yellow cards in a crucial tie against Australia, returning home early in disgrace and with his career in meltdown. The games, the players, the managers, the suits—the most outspoken referee in the modern game tells it as it really is.

Genres: Football, Nonfiction, Sports, Biography, Soccer, Autobiography

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

is an English former football referee in the Premier League and is considered the best English referee of the last 25 years in a list maintained by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). With 26 years of experience, he was regarded as one of the most prominent referees in the Premiership, often taking charge of the highest profile games. His final domestic game in a career spanning 1,544 matches was the Championship play-off final on 28 May 2007 between Derby County and West Bromwich Albion.

As well as refereeing the 2005 UEFA Cup Final he was the English representative at 2 World Cups and UEFA Euro 2000.

At the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, he refereed two matches successfully and, had he continued to receive high marks from assessors, would have been a candidate to take charge of the final. However, in his third game, Croatia vs Australia, he cautioned the same player (left back Josip Šimunić) three times before sending the player off. Poll retired from refereeing international tournament finals matches citing his error in the match. He continued to referee in the Premiership, Champions League and on international games, but said he would not allow himself to be nominated to represent the FA at any tournament finals as he felt he had his chance.

Reviews

[Cathal Kenneally · Rating 3 out of 5]

He will always be remembered for the mistake of three yellow cards in Stuttgart in a game between Croatia and Australia during the 2006 World Cup. He opens the book at that moment in time. Imagine with the whole world watching! Referees get enough abuse; a lot of undeserved but they have to take it. With a question section at the end about the ten most popular questions he gets asked.
A bit too strait laced in places but he was a good referee and now is a journalist and referee pundit on TV. Kudos to any referee who takes the abuse from the big time charlies who are paid a lot more.
My brother is a part time referee and does it for a paltry sum and mainly because of his love of the game

[William Edward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I have read. Really well written and amazing detailed accounts of polls matches

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Graham Poll is a referee. Actually Graham Poll was a referee. He retired after the 2006/2007 football season ended. Graham Poll spent 27 years being a referee. And all Graham Poll will ever be remembered for is that World Cup error in 2006. You know the one, where he showed Croatia player Josip Simunic three yellow cards before eventually giving him the red card. And, for me, that's a shame because, actually, up until then Graham Poll was one of the best referee's in England.

Seeing Red is Graham Poll's take on his life as a referee. He didn't write it himself, it was co-written, and it chronicles all his years as a referee. From the parks games he took charge over to the International games he refereed. It's a very honest book, and Poll details many incidents that occured during his time as referee including the infamous Chelsea spat he had with John Terry. He doesn't pull his punches either and details many refereeing encounters between other managers and players and gives his honest opinion on everything. I don't think you'll get a more honest footballing book, and especially not one about referees.

Graham denies the fact he's arrogant, repeats it many times in fact and he may well not be arrogant, he may well be. Personally I saw a bit of it, but he's hardly as arrogant as Jose Mourinho. I must admit I wasn't fully into football in 2006, I watched it yes but not as avidly as I do these days, but I do remember that incident during the World Cup and it does make me said. What Graham did was obviously wrong, but the price he paid for it was much much higher, because it essentially cost him his career. The abuse he got for it made him lose his love for refereeing and that's a shame because mistake or not, Graham was one of the top ref's in England until that incident.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Seeing Red. I've probably bad-mouthed Graham at some point whilst watching Manchester United and I do sometimes blame referees when we lose these days, but it did make me realise that at the end of the day referees are human, too, and are just as capable of making mistakes as you, as me, as Sir Alex Ferguson. It's not their fault the technology isn't there for them to double check any decision and Graham's right, they have to make split-second decisions based on instinct and the amount of abuse they get is shameful. From players, from managers, from the media. It has really shown referees in another light, and next time before thinking a referee is crap I'll definitely remember that they're humans and all humans make mistakes. Well, I'll try to anyway.

Seeing Red is a book that will appeal to all fans of the beautiful game. Kids who want to referee ought to read it to see exactly what they're getting themselves into, but also to know that it's not all about being abused and that there are many good things to being a referee. One thing shines through from the book and that's that Graham loved being a referee, was totally passionate about it and that's what makes the book so enjoyable. Yes, it offers home truths about what managers and players can really be like but it also shows the good side to refereeing, what it's like to referee Manchester United vs Arsenal or an International game. I'd definitely recommend football fans to read this book, and next time people want to berate a referee, try thinking how you would feel if the same happened to you!

[Colin Murtagh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always had a fairly high opinion of Poll as a ref, although not quite so high an opinion of him as a person. This has changed my mind of him slightly. I still think he's one of the best referees the sport has had recently, but I now have a better appreciation of the man.
The book starts at his lowest point, the World Cup match where he showed a player the yellow card three times. From there, it jumps backwards to him starting out as an official and follows him as he works his way through the leagues, until reaching the pinnacle of his career.
To be fair to Poll, he does seem to be trying to be fair in everything he's relating, regardless of the light it shows him in. He admits his mistakes as often as he blows his own trumpet. If even half of what he is saying is true, being a ref is an impossible job. The disrespect from players and managers I expect, but from the FA is really unforgivable. Interestingly the last couple of chapters are given over to his musings on the state of the game, and ways to improve it. There's very little in there I would argue with.
If I had one complaint, it would be the book is much smaller than it looks. The final quarter, is given over to the statistics of every match he officiated in. Lots of detail, but I would think, of very little interest.

[Joe Stamber · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a tough job being a ref, I used to run the line regularly when I was involved in junior football and that was bad enough. I did a little refereeing and it was a nightmare. So, as Poll points out, the referees don't want to make mistakes but they are only humans doing a very difficult job.

Seeing Red is an enjoyable read that leapt here and there through Poll's career and mixed personal feelings with football anecdotes with fairly equal measure. It's refreshing to read Poll's honesty about some of the mistakes he's made (not many considering!) but he has a habit of making excuses for himself, not just for refereeing decisions.

One minute Poll is being humble and the next coming across as arrogant, something he even admits to (being arrogant, not humble!). The negatives don't spoil it but mean that it is a decent enough read of interest to most football fans but not without its irritations.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable quick read.
Interesting to read about the stories behind the events.
This is one of those books that know I am going to enjoy and never expect it to be a five star rating. The book is fun, entertaining and enlightening but never going to be a classic.
Graham Poll was a top football referee and never far from controversy so I knew it was going to be interesting to hear the previous unreported stories that he was unable to tell while still associated with the game of football.
A great book to dip in and out of.

[Gerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly interesting but a bit too long and quite limited. Graham Poll gives an honest look back at his life and career as a referee and covers all the interesting topics you would expect him to such as his very high profile infamous three yellow cards incident as well as an insight to the key personalities in football around the turn of the century: the players, the managers, the media and fans. No real surprises - very few are different from the perception I have formed of them so no great revelations.

One of the most interesting comments he makes is near the end when speaking about whether technology should be adopted. He gives a very insightful opinion, while agreeing on goal line technology (at the time not being used) he goes on to say (re technology in football) 'It's a Pandora's box. Once you've opened it, it's open for ever and for everything'. Such wise comments lamenting the death of football with the introduction of VAR - for one, I will never watch another football match because of it.

His other great, but not surprising revelation is the total and absolute lack of support from the Football Association for referees. It's a disgraceful state of affairs but I suggest football was then, and is even more so now, corrupt to the core as those in charge chase the money. A working class sport totally destroyed and lacking all credibility.

The book is too long for me to recommend though and hence the two star rating.

[Viktor Lövgren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intressant att få en bild av toppfotbollen från en domares perspektiv. En del roliga anekdoter från diverse spelartunnlar och matchsituationer. Just dessa anekdoter om specifika spelare och händelser gjorde boken värd att läsa, tillsammans med Poll's syn på domarnas roll och tankar om fotbollens fortsatta utveckling när det gäller regler (införande av 5-minutersutvisningar?!) och teknikanvändning. Lite seg i partier som behandlar vägen till toppen via de lägre divisionerna.

[Paul Emsley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book somewhat boring and difficult to get in to. It did have a few interesting points when he spoke about incidents in various football matches and his run ins with the press, but for me, there was too much emphasis on facts and figures that made it a long read and could have been left out.

[Jonny Brick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honest, it's not that bad. At least he's got pizzazz and anecdotes.

[Nick Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

An approachable and informative read, Poll gives a frank insight into the life of a top domestic and international referee. However, I was left a little disappointed - not necessarily due to any fault of the author's, moreso due to the nature of the game and what Poll was trying to do here.

It's clear from the facts that Poll reached the very top of his profession - highly rated by officials, generally well-regarded by players and managers, rewarded with some high-profile games and trusted too by implication in this latter case. I agree that therefore he must be an excellent referee. The book comes over a little bit like someone complaining after the event, however. I know this is unavoidable because professional referees haven't the opportunity to be as critical as Poll is whilst still involved in the game, but it felt a little like someone unloading all their grievances (most of which are justified) now they have the opportunity to.

There's a lot of discussion about the showing of three yellow cards to a Croatian at the 2006 World Cup, which precipitated Poll coming to the end of his career. A bad mistake, but it's odd how this error has become so massive an issue (compared to an error which actually affected the result of the game - q.v. a penalty not given in the Championship play-off) and I'm not sure it works to hang the book round.

Poll addresses criticism of supposedly wanting to be the centre of attention. This criticism has a lot to do with Poll's 'game management' style and it reminded me of my experiences whilst teaching. It does raise a lot of questions about consistency vrs common sense, and does make me think he may bring a lot of these complaints upon himself, but it's a difficult job. People make mistakes, and it's better to have some flexibility than have every offence penalised.

So yep. I was interested, but a bit confused. I agreed with most of it, but disagreed with some of it. I think most open-minded football fans would get something from reading it.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Terry had his version of events proven false and then was not big enough to apologise or even acknowledge publicly what he had done. You will make your own judgement about whether that behaviour befits an England captain. I know what i think.

When you consider that Graham Poll was a referee for a whopping twenty-seven seasons, it's something of a shame that he will always be remembered as the referee that showed a player three yellow cards in a World Cup game before finally sending him off. As Sir Alex Ferguson says in his foreword, Graham Poll could always make decisions, even if they weren't always right.

Dozens of footballers have released books over the years. They're usually all pretty similar, and only worth reading for the occasional bit of juicy gossip about other teams and/or players. If you've read one, you've pretty much read them all.

But Graham Poll was not a footballer, he was a referee, and that's the crucial selling point of this book. Ever wondered what the life of a referee entails? What do they do when they're not on the pitch? How have things changed since referees turned professional? How do they prepare for matches, what sort of abuse do they receive, what do they think of the FA? It's all covered. And yes, there's a fair amount of juicy gossip, too.

We've only had a couple of weeks of the new season, and already there has been an alarmingly high number of poor decisions by referees. We have some of the best managers, players and teams in one of the best leagues in the world, yet we don't seem to have a single consistently good referee anymore. Graham Poll wasn't perfect, but he was easily the best we had.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well done biography of a man who had a 27 year career, achieved the pinnacle, and then made a mistake that for many defines him still. This is his effort to repaint his portrait, his polar public image, into a more complete, human one. I can honestly say this book has changed the way I look at referees and I will definitely pay close attention to the latest FA "Respect" campaign. Before I read this, I thought of Poll as a knowledgeable person with a purile sense of humor and sometimes disrespectful. He owns up to his whole character and attempts to place it in context and I found that admirable. This a surprisingly moving book as it is ultimately about the death of a dream. You dont have to care about football (soccer) to be interested in that. He continued to referee after the mistake but the media and the fans wouldn't allow it to find its proper perspective and he eventually retires because he loses the love he had for refereeing. His story made me think about the overweaning role of the media and how big (big) money has has changed the game just over the course of his career. A surprising, powerful read for me. Whew, what next?

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seeing Red by Graham Poll is a autobiography which will appeal to those who likes soccer, follow the English Premier League, or follow refereeing. As I read this book, I learned how tough it is to be a referee and how much abuses they receive from players, managers, and spectators. The book is filled with lots of detail on some critical moments in Graham Poll's career and he went through several difficult experiences but came out of them strong and positive to become one of most successful referees in the world with a career spanning about 20 years. This autobiography inspired me to become mentally strong, both on and off the soccer field. I sympathized with Graham Poll as he is known infamously as the referee who booked a player 3 yellow cards instead of 2 rather than being known as the man who had a fairly successful, long, and dedicated refereeing career. If you are ready for an inspiring, sad and touching read, and are very interested in soccer stories, this book is definitely for you.

[Karlt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writer tends to go off on tangents, which makes the book seem like a stream of consciousness thing, but I guess the style is appropriate for an autobiography. More editing would have helped but it was still an enjoyable read nonetheless.

The book seems very honest and insightful, he highlights his mistakes and achievements with equal frequency and detail, and you appreciate that in an autobiography. Overall, I recommend it for sports fans, particularly ones who follow the EPL, and football (soccer) fans in general because it gives you an insight into what the world of refereeing is like. Maybe you'll think twice about abusing the referee the next time you are at a game.

PS If you are a hard core fan, pay particular attention to the 2nd to the last chapter about his thoughts on how to improve the refereeing situation in football.

[Colshy · Rating 2 out of 5]

**UPDATE**

So the snow/rain/we-dont-have-a-clue-what-we're-doing-but-we'll-take-a-perfectly-normal-yucky-February-day-and-make-you-stay-home-while-you-will-suffer-on-a-beautiful-day-in-June Day gave me some time to finish reading this. It was alright. As a soccer coach, I don't know how much sympathy I really want to start feeling for referees though :)

Brian gave this to me. He's a big Anglo-poser. It's actually kinda interesting though so far. A referee who blows it big time at the World Cup comes back and cries in his car on the M5 outside London. OK, it's a lot more interesting than it sounds.

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy, interesting and insightful look into the world of the referee. It is what it is and that is why I enjoy it. Gives insight into the on pitch antics of some of the best known players and managers in English and world football. Good book to get into after a long day of classes.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finished this book .... barely. The interesting part was learning about the world of a top-flight football (soccer) referee. However, the book is chaotic in its organization and Poll's ego is over the top. While he jokes about it being called arrogant, I do not believe he sees it.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay read. More interesting as it gives a behind the scenes look at being an international referee.

[Kevin Donohue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good insight into the life of a premier ref.