The Championship play-off final is often described as the richest game in football.
That moniker is especially accurate this season, with an increased Premier League purse awaiting whichever team joins Burnley and Middlesbrough in the top flight.
That means referees will be under the microscope more than usual, and Andre Marriner felt the brunt of the tension after disallowing a goal from Sheffield Wednesday in their play-off semi-final against Brighton & Hove Albion.
The assistant ref puts his hand to his ear piece straight away to call over Marriner. They worked together to come to the right decision.
— – (@Murbroski) May 13, 2016
Seen the replays, and it does appear Marriner made right decision to disallow the goal. Just took an awful long time to do so.
— Mark Staniforth (@markstani1) May 13, 2016
Fernando Forestieri thought he had given the hosts a first-half lead, only for Marriner and his assistants to take a very long time to rule out the strike.
Naturally, fans were none too happy with the ruling, and the officials were booed off at half-time despite Ross Wallace giving Wednesday a half-time lead.
When does Andre Marriner: The Musical come to the West End? #swfc #bhafc
— Laura Lawrence ⚽📚 (@YICETOR) May 13, 2016
https://twitter.com/dreamtime1788/status/731205156151410688
But it wasn’t all criticism
Keith Hackett (a #swfc fan) tells me "great decision by ref Marriner & asst Cann to disallow goal. FF offside & Hooper didn't make contact"
— Alan Biggs (@AlanBiggs1) May 13, 2016
Big call from the officials to disallow @swfc goal but spot on decision. Offside from initial ball and no touch from Hooper.
— Danny Higginbotham (@Higginbotham05) May 13, 2016
He was about 20 yards offside to be fair #bhafc #swfc pic.twitter.com/Z4QwfKGct3
— Malc Buss (@malc_b25) May 13, 2016
And some thought the amount of time taken was bizarre at best
Bizarre off side decision. If the ref had waited any longer to disallow the goal it would've been next season. #SWFC #bhafc
— John Bennett (@JohnBennettBBC) May 13, 2016
Eventually, and perhaps inevitably, someone suggested a wider conspiracy.
Referee = Mariner Brighton = seaside Hmmm lol #bbcfootball
— Glyn⚽️❤🖤💜 (@glyn1jones) May 13, 2016
