Bobby Madley

[TiffToff88]

The man mocked a person with a disability. He says it was intended as an insult to himself but that's absolute nonsense. I'm speaking as a person with most likely the same physical impairment as the person in the video and i found it upsetting as it brought back memories of the mocking i had to endure throughout my school life and even into my early working days. 

 

How so many people are defending him is absolutely baffling. Probably the sort of people who would do the same thing without a second thought about the person they're mocking.

[Finnegan]

1 minute ago, TiffToff88 said:

The man mocked a person with a disability. He says it was intended as an insult to himself but that's absolute nonsense. I'm speaking as a person with most likely the same physical impairment as the person in the video and i found it upsetting as it brought back memories of the mocking i had to endure throughout my school life and even into my early working days. 

 

How so many people are defending him is absolutely baffling. Probably the sort of people who would do the same thing without a second thought about the person they're mocking.

 

I have to be honest, I'm amazed that people are buying the excuse that he was mocking himself and fat shaming etc. It's pretty obvious he's had words with a publicist who's helping him spin his version. 

 

I'm all for banter, I don't really mind giving some abuse, I throw hurtful words around at people in my day to day and I guess some of it comes across as more offensive than I intend. 

 

But actively seeing someone with a physical disability, turning on your camera to record them behind their back and then sending it to your mates to take the piss is a whole different level of cvnt move. 

 

And if you're thinking "oh come on we all joke like that with our mates" then I can promise you, no, we don't. If I sent that to my main WhatsApp group my friends would tear me a new one for being a ****. 

 

The line about his dad pissed me off even more. Not only is it pretty much the disability equivalent of "I'm not racist I know loads of black people" but actually it makes it WORSE that his dad was disabled, not better. He should know better. 

 

 

[StanSP]

26 minutes ago, TiffToff88 said:

The man mocked a person with a disability. He says it was intended as an insult to himself but that's absolute nonsense. I'm speaking as a person with most likely the same physical impairment as the person in the video and i found it upsetting as it brought back memories of the mocking i had to endure throughout my school life and even into my early working days. 

 

How so many people are defending him is absolutely baffling. Probably the sort of people who would do the same thing without a second thought about the person they're mocking.

 

15 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

I have to be honest, I'm amazed that people are buying the excuse that he was mocking himself and fat shaming etc. It's pretty obvious he's had words with a publicist who's helping him spin his version. 

 

I'm all for banter, I don't really mind giving some abuse, I throw hurtful words around at people in my day to day and I guess some of it comes across as more offensive than I intend. 

 

But actively seeing someone with a physical disability, turning on your camera to record them behind their back and then sending it to your mates to take the piss is a whole different level of cvnt move. 

 

And if you're thinking "oh come on we all joke like that with our mates" then I can promise you, no, we don't. If I sent that to my main WhatsApp group my friends would tear me a new one for being a ****. 

 

The line about his dad pissed me off even more. Not only is it pretty much the disability equivalent of "I'm not racist I know loads of black people" but actually it makes it WORSE that his dad was disabled, not better. He should know better. 

 

 

I won't speak for anyone else but I would say that it appears the punishment doesn't fit the 'crime'.

 

Is it worth a sacking? Is it really gross misconduct?

 

The one line that did strike me as odd was 'The full page and headline of ‘Blobby Bobby’ may seem funny to some but trust me being fat shamed in a national newspaper is not a nice feeling'. Odd in the sense that he knows that's not a nice feeling but why take a video of someone being fat-shamed. Privately or publicly it's not going to be a nice feeling. 

 

I think he's fully self-aware of his own actions but he feels wronged because he's lost his job and his career. You could argue he put himself in that position and made a rod for his own back but it's not really worth being sacked over, surely? Why wasn't he allowed the 'discrimination training' and why was he sacked on the spot? It seems a bit OTT.

 

 

[Finnegan]

If I did that in my work I'd be teetering on the line between final warning and dismissal, probably dependent on how good my representation was. 

 

Granted, I work in probably the most politically correct environment you can do. 

 

Given that being a premier league referee should be a privilege not a right and given it doesn't actually stop him going off and having a career in whatever he actually did / does for a living, I do think people are over reacting because they love a good moan about how you "can't say anything anymore" and all of that shit. 

 

Would I personally have sacked him? Probably not but I also think the current narrative of sympathy towards him reflects pretty badly on people's views of how to treat the disabled. I'm not really sure you should be reading that article and going "oh poor Bobby Madley" tbqh. But that's just my opinion. 

 

But I dunno, I'm probably just sensitive. I would rather live in a country where you can get sacked for abusing the disabled, though, than one where you can get elected president for it. So there's that. 

 

 

 

[Super_horns]

Sort of incident that once it comes public you won't get away with.
 
Moral is I guess either don't make the "joke" or make sure you send it to someone who won't bail on you ?

 

 

[Langston]

On 02/01/2020 at 21:58, whoareyaaa said:

Remember when he gave that peno what hit Morgan's head and sent off a couple of our players I think.

 

proper shit ref was probably involved in match fixing

 

The ref that gave that peno was Mike Jones, a completely different person.

 

[Koke]

On 03/01/2020 at 14:04, TiffToff88 said:

The man mocked a person with a disability. He says it was intended as an insult to himself but that's absolute nonsense. I'm speaking as a person with most likely the same physical impairment as the person in the video and i found it upsetting as it brought back memories of the mocking i had to endure throughout my school life and even into my early working days. 

 

How so many people are defending him is absolutely baffling. Probably the sort of people who would do the same thing without a second thought about the person they're mocking.

 

Fully agree. The punishment i felt was a tad harsh (suspension and attending a course would suffice imo) but i agree with you overall. The guy literally pulled his phone out to film and mock a disabled person. Its 1 thing to make an off the cuff dinner table unPC joke, its another to take the time out to film someone and send it to his mate. And his excuse was pathetic.

[Leeds Fox]

I think one of the main things in this scenario, (not that it makes it right but possibly blurs the lines of ‘gross misconduct’ is that it was sent as a private message. 
 

Clearly it has been brought into the open now but a message between friends can be taken completely out of context. 
 

The nail in the coffin was probably that if it had been made public and he was still employed by the FA, his position may have been untenable.

[LiberalFox]

I don't really have any sympathy. He intentionally filmed a disabled person purely to mock them for their disability. He claims to take responsibility for his actions but he keeps making excuses and saying how hard done by he was. Wonder what the reaction would be if it was a racist joke.  

[UpTheLeagueFox]

Not much love for Madley here, maybe FT is a bit more flakey than I realised.

I think he's been harshly treated.

He made a poor judgement choice but let's not kill the fella.

[filbertway]

On 09/01/2020 at 13:15, UpTheLeagueFox said:

Not much love for Madley here, maybe FT is a bit more flakey than I realised.

I think he's been harshly treated.

He made a poor judgement choice but let's not kill the fella.

Which I would say is having poor taste when it comes to picking mates.

 

Listened to a good podcast with Carlton Palmer yesterday and he's dead right in that he said there's no characters knocking about anymore because society, social media and the media force people to behave in a certain way. If they step out of line they're chastised and tossed on the scrap heap.

[LiberalFox]

Frankly his attitude makes me hope he doesn't referee here again. No remorse just self pity. 

[Father Ted]

Karma for that last minute penalty he gave to Spurs

[Jaspa]

Quote

 

Bobby Madley: Former Premier League official to return to refereeing

Ex-Premier League referee Bobby Madley says he has accepted an opportunity to officiate in England again.

Madley was sacked by Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) in 2018 after sending a video mocking a disabled person to a friend.

Following discussions with PGMOL, Madley will return as an official at League One and League Two level from the start of next season.

Madley, 34, says he has also agreed to attend an FA discrimination workshop.

He will also work at grassroots level for the remainder of this season before becoming a National List referee.

In a blog post, Madley wrote: "Eighteen months ago I lost my dream job as a professional football referee due my own regrettable, naive and stupid actions.

"I am delighted, however, that I have been given the opportunity to return to referee in the professional game in England."

He added: "I am not proud of my actions in 2018 and I have learned from this and feel I am a better and stronger person for it.

"PGMOL dealt with what they considered a discriminatory act in the strongest way. There can be no criticism for that and I have never sought to do anything other than respect the decision and to learn from it as a person.

"I can only thank them for having the ability to forgive, recognise that one naive moment does not define a person and offer me a second chance to do what I love to do."

Madley took charge of 91 top-flight matches between 2013 and 2018 until he was he was sacked.

Following his dismissal he moved to Norway where he has refereed in the lower leagues.

 

 

Back in the Football League pyramid

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51494849

[UniFox21]

36 minutes ago, Jaspa said:

 

Back in the Football League pyramid

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51494849

Here's his take on it.

 

Have to say I am happy that the PGMOL have given him the opportunity to return to England. He's a good official, so may help those in leagues 1 and 2 with his experience and knowledge around the game. Hopefully he isn't hit with too much abuse and is able to ref. 

 

Cynic in me thinks his initial post and the traction that got in terms of severity of punishment may have had a hand in this. 

[Tinman]

Must be barking mad

[Super_horns]

He'll get loads of dogs abuse I suspect..

 

Or people trying to take the mick out of him in some way..

 

I do wonder if he'd been welcomed back had he been discriminating  in another form?

Edited 13 February 2020 by Super_horns

[Alf Bentley]

He won't only get abuse. 

 

I'm sure he'll get a lot of applause, too.

 

Plenty of fans think he's the dog's bollocks.

[Footballwipe]

Look at all these weirdos thinking the dog puns are funny and not so, so, so, sooi tiresome

[Alf Bentley]

1 hour ago, Footballwipe said:

Look at all these weirdos thinking the dog puns are funny and not so, so, so, sooi tiresome

 

Not side-splitting comedy, I grant you, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of naff, cheesy humour to help pass the time on a tiresome day.

 

Beats having nothing to contribute but petty bitterness....

[LinekersLugs]

He he barred from keeping a dog as a pet ?

[Guest]

Don’t think one silly action should end his career so glad he’s been given another chance. Hopefully he’s learnt something and will be a better person for the experience.

[UpTheLeagueFox]

49 minutes ago, shanetko said:

Don’t think one silly action should end his career so glad he’s been given another chance. Hopefully he’s learnt something and will be a better person for the experience.

100% this.
Everybody wants someone sacked for anything they do wrong these days.

[Manini]

Regardless of what he did or didn’t do - he was still, categorically, one of the worst officials in the premier league and will also be one of the worst in leagues 1 and 2. 

[Vacamion]

11 hours ago, Footballwipe said:

Look at all these weirdos thinking the dog puns are funny and not so, so, so, sooi tiresome

 

I think crap puns are a big part of my Foxestalk experience.  Just try mentioning fish or cheese, it can go on for days. 

 

And if you think the posts in here about it are tiresome, the chants which will inevitably be directed at him will not amuse you.