Graham Poll
Full name | Graham Poll | ||
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England[1] | 29 July 1963||
Other occupation | |||
Domestic | |||
Years | League | Role | |
?–1991 |
Isthmian League | Referee | |
1986–1991 |
Football League | Asst. referee | |
1991–1993 |
Football League | Referee | |
1993–2007 | Premier League | Referee | |
International | |||
Years | League | Role | |
1996–2007 | FIFA listed | Referee |
Graham Poll (born 29 July 1963) is an English former
He was the English representative at two World Cups and
In his third game of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Croatia vs Australia, he cautioned Croatian defender Josip Šimunić three times before sending him off. Poll retired from refereeing international tournament finals matches shortly afterwards, citing his error in the match. He continued to referee in the Premier League, 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 had his chance.[3]
Football career
Poll took up refereeing in 1980, progressing from the
Having held a
in the group stages.In the dying seconds of the
Poll refereed the Italy versus Croatia game at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, played on Saturday 8 June 2002. Poll had a busy game, as there were forty-two fouls, three goals scored, two goals disallowed, and two bookings. Poll was given one more appointment at that world cup: Fourth Official to Pierluigi Collina in the second round match in which Turkey beat Japan 1–0.[7]
Poll was the only English referee at the
Poll retired from international tournament finals football on 29 June 2006, citing the error as the reason. He said in his retirement announcement,
What I did was an error in law. There can be no dispute. It was not caused by a FIFA directive, it was not caused by me being asked to referee differently to the way I referee in the Premier League. The laws of the game are very specific. The referee takes responsibility for his actions on the field of play. I was the referee that evening. It was my error and the buck stops with me.
In the press release, he also claimed that he had asked FIFA to be allowed to go home, to be with his family after the trauma of his mistake in the match.[3]
He continued to referee in the Champions League and on international games, but said he would not allow himself to be nominated to represent The FA at any tournament finals. "It's time for somebody else in England to have a go and I will do everything I can to prepare them. But for me tournament football is over," Poll said.[3]
His last match was to have been a
International career details
- 2 April 1997, Azerbaijan 1–2 Finland
- 16 June 2000, Czech Republic 1–2 France
- 21 June 2000, Slovenia 0–0 Norway
- 11 October 2000, Netherlands 0–2 Portugal
- 1 September 2001, Slovenia 2–1 Russia
- 14 November 2001, Paraguay 0–4 Colombia
- 4 September 2004, Latvia 0–2 Portugal
- 17 August 2005, Latvia 1–1 Russia
- 7 September 2005, Spain 1–1 Serbia and Montenegro
- 12 October 2005, Bahrain 0–0 Uzbekistan
- 16 November 2005, Czech Republic 1–0 Norway
- 13 June 2006, Korea Republic 2–1 Togo
- 19 June 2006, Saudi Arabia 0–4 Ukraine
- 22 June 2006, Australia
Media
Poll made several appearances on the football radio show World Soccer Daily, where he was typically asked to provide a view from the point of the referee whenever major controversial issues occur. He also featured weekly on Chappers Premier League Podcast alongside Mark Chapman and Kevin Day. He also featured in the Daily Mail where he spoke on officiating at the highest level, talking about decisions referees have to make. He also appeared regularly as a pundit on Setanta Sports Football Matters show hosted by James Richardson and Rebecca Lowe. Since 2009, Poll has also appeared as a regular news paper reviewer on Sky News Sunrise, and as a writer for DailyMail.com.
Personal life
Born in
References
- ^ a b Roberts, Damion (5 February 2015). "Interview: Former referee Graham Poll on his return to action at Hitchin Town". The Comet. Stevenage: Archant. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
Poll was born in Hitchin and went to Thomas Alleyne School in Stevenage, before taking up refereeing locally in both the Hitchin Sunday and the Stevenage Sunday League. He had moved to Tring, and then to Reading, so being born in the town 'didn't really come up; I wasn't seen as having any particular allegiance.'
- Guardian Unlimited, 28 May 2007. Retrieved 28 May 2007.
- ^ a b c d Lutz, Tom (29 June 2006). "Poll retires from international game". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2006.
- the Football Leagueofficial website. Retrieved 4 February 2008. he has now retired
- soccerbase.com website. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
- ^ "Time to forgive Poll for howler" Archived 22 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine: Liverpool Echo, 9 June 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
- ^ Keith Cooper's comments Archived 8 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine following Italy v. Croatia, World Cup 2002: BBC.co.uk website. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
- ^ "Worldcup06 22.6. Croatia - Australia 2-2". YouTube. Retrieved 10 July 2006.
- ^ "Ref Poll sent home from World Cup". BBC. 28 June 2006. Retrieved 28 June 2006.
- ^ Poll no-show Archived 26 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine for his last game as a referee, Finland v. Belgium, 6 June 2007): UEFA.com (6 June 2007). Retrieved 7 June 2007.
- BBC.co.uk(30 May 2007). Retrieved 31 May 2007.
- ^ "Champions League football from 12 yards out". 6 May 2015.
- ^ "Graham Poll" (PDF). Hall of Fame 2010. Sports Stevenage. 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2010. [dead link]
- ^ "Graham Poll - Legendary English Football Official". Testimonials. IMG. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
- ^ PWife and children[permanent dead link], two daughters and one son: The Guardian, 1 June 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2008.
- ^ London Marathon 2008 Archived 16 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine, finishes in 4hr 20min: from a report at the BBC.co.uk website. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
- Justgiving.com website. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
External links
- Profile on FIFA World Cup 2006 site
- Graham Poll refereeing career statistics at )
- Graham Poll interview (archived)
- Graham Poll referee profile at WorldFootball.net
- Graham Poll referee profile at EU-Football.info