This season’s edition of the Premier League has seen a massive increase in controversial refereeing decisions.
Whether that be individual mistakes, VAR incompetence, or just tight calls, almost every team has been affected.
One man in particular has been at the front of it all, 41-year-old Simon Hooper.
Cheltenham Civil Service club president and referee Rob Morrison saw Hooper at the early stages of his career and has witnessed his progression.
Rob said: “I managed a team in Swindon, and one of the guys that worked for me was Simon Hooper. At the time, he was about 17/18.
“He was doing Hellenic and Southern League games and lines in the Conference just starting his journey. Even at that age, he was doing it to a fairly decent standard.”
Hooper was a referee in the Football League for ten years from 2008 to 2018 before making the step up to officiating Premier League fixtures.
Controversy isn’t a new feature of his refereeing either, as in his first Premier League match in 2015, where Crystal Palace beat Norwich City 3-1, he made the debatable decision to disallow Cameron Jerome’s bicycle kick for dangerous play.
After avoiding mistakes for a few seasons, Hooper has come right to the front of the refereeing conversation this season.
First, it was the decision not to award Wolves a penalty during stoppage time in their 1-0 loss to Manchester United after Andre Onana collided with Sasa Kalajdzic in the United box.
Next came Spurs’ 2-1 win over Liverpool, where VAR ruled Luis Diaz’s goal to be offside despite it being clearly onside.
Most recently, it was the 3-3 draw between Spurs and Manchester City, where Erling Haaland was fouled in the 94th minute but got back up and played the ball through to Jack Grealish. However, despite having a clear opportunity to score, Hooper brought the play back for a free kick.
As a referee, Morrison gave his view on the decisions that Hooper has been involved in so far this season.
Rob said: “It started with the Wolves game. That decision was on him as he was sent to the screen and still didn’t reverse the decision.
“Then he was the referee for the Spurs vs Liverpool game with the Diaz goal being disallowed. But that wasn’t his fault. That was on the VAR team, and then he had the game at the weekend with the advantage as well.
“It’s not within the laws, so you don’t have to give the advantage. He brought it back as there was a foul on Haaland when he played the ball.”
Hooper was initially dropped from fixtures for a week after the Wolves match, but this time around, there has been no further action, acknowledging his decision as human error.
With this many controversies already in just the first half of the season, the PGMOL must take action soon if they want the season to go on without interruption.
