Former Premier League referee Chris Foy believes Colby Bishop’s controversial opener for Portsmouth against Bristol Rovers on Saturday should have been disallowed.
In Sky Sports’ weekly ‘Behind the Whistle’ column, Foy - a Premier League referee for 14 years before retiring in 2015 and joining the PGMOL as a coach - has studied the incident among six decisions made across the EFL over last weekend.
Joey Barton, and the vast majority of the Mem, was incensed when Bishop strolled onto a through-ball from Ryan Tunnicliffe in the 18th minute before picking his spot past James Belshaw, the ball striking both posts before crossing the line. The Pompey striker looked too far ahead of the Rovers defence to be onside and yet assistant Ian Cooper kept his flag down.
Coaches Andy Mangan and Glenn Whelan were booked by referee James Bell for their protests while Barton was later cautioned during the half-time interval as he and a number of Gas players continued to try and state their case.
After watching the footage back of the goal, Foy told Sky Sports : “When the ball is played through and while not conclusive from the footage, it does look like the Portsmouth attacker has started his attacking run a little too early and strayed into an offside position.
“There is a Bristol Rovers defender just out of shot, but given the shadows on the pitch, it does suggest that this decision should have resulted in the goal being disallowed for an offside offence. A marginal call though.”
The goal arrived after a period of pressure for Rovers as Lewis Gibson had gone close with a header from a set-piece and Aaron Collins tested visiting goalkeeper Matt Macey from range. It completely changed the dynamic of the first-half as the Gas were knocked out of their stride and the crowd increasingly turned on the match officials, altering the atmosphere inside the stadium.
Rovers, of course, still had the second half to get something from the game but were further pegged back when Bishop scored a second from the penalty spot following a foul on Pompey winger Paddy Lane by Calum Macdonald, another decision Barton wasn't happy about.
He spent the majority of his post-match press conference complaining about the standard of officials in League One and League Two once again raising the concept of them being amateur yet having to referee in the professional game.
“It’s not even like it is a yard, everyone in the stadium can see that it is off. You just know from instinct that it is off,” Barton said. “We have the benefit of a replay but 9,000 of our fans know it’s off. Every player virtually stops and then unfortunately for us the people that matter, the ones who have the responsibility of calling the game squarely, they make stuff up and invent stuff that’s happened.
“And it’s frustrating. Our lads graft and work hard during the week, we work hard Monday to Friday but amateurs, and I say this with the nicest possible hat on, because I do want the lads to get full-time spots.”
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