Former Premier League ref Jeff Winter opens up on death threats, fans waiting for him after games and shares worry for young officials

Death threats from fans

It never really got that serious with supporters for me, in my career. When you’re out there in the middle of, let’s say Old Trafford, and the referee is getting pelted with all the same old boring chants like ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’, ‘you’re not fit to referee’, it’s just a noise. You know, if you’re concentrating on what’s going on on the pitch, you don’t really hear it.

It’s like when people talk about Sir Alex [Ferguson] intimidating referees. Yes, he did in his pre- and post-match press conferences. But when that game is going on, do you think I’m interested at all in what he’s screaming and shouting at me when I’ve got Arsenal playing at Old Trafford, 22 players who don’t particularly like each other, flying into tackles? What the fans are singing, and what the manager is saying on the touchline, you know, it’s just totally and utterly insignificant.

Most of the fans that are singing those chants about you…you know, they’re not going to confront you in the street and say anything. It’s the herd mentality they like.

I did recall once, I received a letter, and I have to give my local post office a pat on the back because it was literally just addressed to ‘JEFF WINTER. REFEREE’.

It was just the cowardly ‘hope you’re in a car crash on the way home. Hope your children die of cancer’. Nice, classy stuff like that.

My simple answer to stupidity like that was that those people are never, ever going to do anything. They’re big and brave behind their keyboard or with a pen and paper. But if the person who was that angered by me wanted to find out where I lived, they could. They could come and knock on my door, and they might get a slight shock with the response they’d get!

Fan waited for me after a game and reported me to Premier League!

I do recall one incident at a ground in the north west, where a football fan – not of the violent, but of the more annoying type – was stood by my car after the game, in the days where we used to drive ourselves to games. As I’m trying to open the boot to put my kit in, he didn’t swear, he wasn’t aggressive. It was just: “Mr Winter, do you realise you’re the worst referee we’ve ever had here today?”

That is actually more annoying to me than somebody effing and blinding. You can take a big of aggro, but this guy was being nasty with a hint of niceness thrown in. So I thought I’d play him at his own game.

“Thank you very much for your comments. I’ll take them on board. Now, I’ve got a long journey, would you mind moving back, so I can put my bag in my car, please?”

And he came out with some more bilge. So I upped my game a little bit and suggested he move away, using more down-to- earth terminology.

Monday morning, I get a phone call from the then-gaffer of the Premier League. This fan is that incensed by me, he’s emailed, phoned, or done something, getting on to the Premier League and complained about the way I’ve spoken and reacted to him. Well, I wouldn’t have spoken and reacted like that to him if he’d have been back at his house, blowing his girlfriend up for his Saturday night’s entertainment!

He’s given me grief, and then he’s gone home and got in touch with the Premier League. And then on the Monday morning, I end up getting the dressing-down from my boss, telling me I’ve got to be aware of my responsibilities when engaging with football fans. And I just remember thinking if I’d have had my way I’d have engaged with him, all right; I’d have knocked him halfway across the car park!

My worry for young referees

Referees have got to be lilywhite, seen to be doing everything properly. A lot of things are said and done in the heat of the moment, though. The noises, the aggro. I’m more concerned and more worried about what’s happening at the moment, where referees are being questioned about everything. Every decision is being scrutinised by our favourite three-letter word (VAR). That isn’t a problem, really, other than pride and hassle to the referee who is earning over a hundred grand a year.

It is a problem, though, the following morning, when the mums and dads who have listened to Match of the Day, Sky and all the other broadcasters’ views on the game, when they go and watch Little Johnny play, and they’ve got a 15-year-old referee who is showing so much bravery to even take on that role. That’s where the threats of violence come. There’s a much bigger picture here which affects the grassroots game.

You know, some 15- or 16-year-olds could – if allowed to learn and progress through the game – be 10 times better than I ever was. But, instead, they throw their kits away because they’re not going to take the aggro. It’s sad, and I don’t have an answer for how we improve VAR overnight, and I don’t have an answer for what, really, is the horrible world we now live in. It’s so much easier to criticise than it is to offer praise, and sadly those are the times we live in.