Double Yellow: When The Ref Messed Up, Big Time

January 27, 2023 Gary 1990-1999, From the archives, Memory Matches 0

I was going to wait until February 5th to do this, but given the events at Bolton this week, I’ve opted to drag it forward as it is quite topical.

For those who do not know, Bolton were on the end of a major injustice this week. Elias Kachunga was seen punching a Forest Green player in the chest, off the ball, but the assistant referee indicated Dion Charles had thrown the punch. Charles was sent off, wrongly, and a major referee error was committed. It’s the sort of error that will be mentioned in the same breath as Stuart Attwell’s ghost goal, Graham Poll’s extra yellow card, and a moment from Sincil Bank that made national news 26 years ago.

I mentioned the game recently – it was Mark Foran’s final game in an Imps shirt, Carl Cort’s debut, Carl Cort’s only goal, and an incident-packed affair which ‘could have ended 6-6’ according to Brian Halford of the Echo. Before we come to the juicy bit, the game is worth mentioning.

Wigan were already tipped to win the league (which they did), and they brought a continental vibe to Sincil Bank with Isidro Diaz and Roberto Martinez in their lineup (Jesus Seba, a Spanish Under 21 signed at the same time, missed out). They also had former Imps Colin Greenall and Lee Butler in their side, with Wayne Biggins as part of the squad. They were a good team and proved it by taking an early lead through Graeme Jones.

City rallied, and Ainsworth dug out a cross from nowhere for Cort to nod home. Cort was making his debut and would eventually go on to earn a £7m move from Wimbledon to Newcastle and achieve England U21 honours but it was his only goal in an Imps shirt.

Not long after that, Gavin Johnson’s free-kick took a wicked deflection off Terry Fleming to give them a 2-1 lead at half time, but City weren’t out of it. Late on, John Butler handled in the area to prevent a Jae Martin chance, but Lee Butler’s acrobatic save denied Phil Stant from the spot. Martin, who replaced Bimson in a tactical sub on 27 minutes, saw a great effort stopped by Butler, before Jones hit a sweet 20-yard volley in the final minute to give the result a gloss it perhaps didn’t warrant.

The game’s big talking point came in the first half. Terry Fleming was booked in the 37th minute for a foul, and then moments later crashed into either Isidro Diaz or Roberto Matinez from a throw-in (it’s inconclusive, Diaz and Martinez look similar, and media quoted it as Diaz, but Twitter suggests Martinez). He was booked again, but no red. Why? Surely some mistake?

Paul Taylor, an experienced referee, had booked Tony Dennis, quoted as being 25 yards away at the time. What had happened? Local media couldn’t figure it out, but the incident made headlines – Fleming and the Imps even featured on the national news the next night, and it seemed to be a big joke with the focus on the referee.

The next day, things became clearer – there was a hint that Fleming, approaching his 50th outing for the Imps, had given the name of Dennis to avoid a red card. After all, he’d clearly clattered into Diaz/Martinez on purpose, as his foot comes over the line as he collides with them. He knew it, and it seems he’d done what he could to stay on the pitch and help City towards a favourable result. By now, the club and John Beck were declining to comment.

Within a couple of days, the FA charged Fleming with bringing the game into disrepute. There was no mention of quite how a referee was fooled by being given the wrong name, but that is glossed over in all reports. Fleming had seen a chance and exploited it – whatever that said about society at the time, I wouldn’t dare to comment. However, is there an irony that 26 years later, it is the two dark-haired Spanish players getting muddled up on social media? Perhaps.

Fleming clearly expected his punishment, as he didn’t request a personal hearing and ultimately faced anything up to a six-match ban as punishment. It didn’t come to that – he was banned for three games, home fixtures against Torquay and Swansea, and a trip to Cambridge. Club chairman John Reames gave a contrite assessment of the incident, saying it was “a physical assault, unacceptable from a Lincoln City player.” That’s not something we heard after the elbow thrown by Afolayan the other week, a far worse offence, but I guess I ought to let that go now.

Fleming was fined two weeks’ wages by the club, with FA spokesperson Steve Double adding, “it was the matter of giving the referee a false name on which the disrepute charge was based.”

City took six points from the nine available without Fleming, who was not reinstated to the line-up when his ban expired, due to an extra game suspension, for what I’m not quite clear. However, a 3-3 draw with Exeter City in that game saw him back in for the final couple of matches as the Imps missed out on a top-seven spot on the season’s final day. Of course, promotion would follow a year later, with Fleming getting one of the goals as we beat Brighton on the final day, and quickly his misdemeanour became something to smile about, adding an amusing anecdote to the legacy he eventually left when departing the club.