'Pinky shirts make referees a laughing stock' - Gillingham's Mark Stimson
by Patrick Gearey
Football referees are vilified for all sorts of reasons - but
now they're getting stick for their colourful dress sense from
Gillingham manager Mark Stimson.
Stimson wants officials to stop wearing "pinky shirts" because
he thinks they make them a laughing stock.
Stimson spoke to match officials after the 1-1 draw with Norwich
on Saturday - refereed by Paul Taylor - and offered a bit of
fashion advice about their uniform.
He said: "It's a crazy decision to put a referee in a pinky
shirt. They get enough abuse as it is - but as soon as they walk on
the pitch with that pink shirt people laugh at them."
Audio: Hear Mark Stimson
criticise referees' uniform
Officially, referees can now be found sporting fluorescent
shades of red, yellow, blue and green, as well as the traditional
black uniform.
The Gills boss would be prepared to back a campaign for
officials to go 'back to black' as a way of helping the Respect
agenda, which the FA hopes will encourage better behaviour towards
the men in the middle from fans, managers and players.
Stimson added: "[Referees] set themselves up. If they wanted
managers to say anything about it I would because I do not think it
is a good thing."
01/10/09
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