There is a big difference between referees being influenced by certain environmental factors, as will happen to any human referee in any sport ever, and corruption. Corruption implies backhanders or some other financial or political gain with a wider motive.
A referee letting a previous bias consciously or unconsciously cloud their judgement is not the same thing. That is an issue of competence and professionalism.
And I´m sorry, but to think that little old LFC, one of the biggest and richest clubs in the world, is on the receiving end of some grand conspiracy is straight up bullshit on a level with City fans crying foul at everything and anything.
No, it isn’t straight up bullshit, and it’s nowhere near the same level as City fans’ caterwauling.
Is it “corruption” on the level of taking a bribe. Nah, of course not. But people are rightfully upset, as we may have lost Virgil for the bulk of the season, and Thiago as well, in a Derby where there were Duncan Fergusons all over the pitch in blue. And a blatant mistake by the referee *and* the VAR ref leaving Pickford without punishment and the sides 11 v 11 for the bulk of the match over the same incident that injured Virgil; the nature of Richarlison’s tackle on Thiago; and the ridiculous Offside/VAR interpretation at the end are all just rubbing salt in a still open wound.
As someone who’s followed the Reds for almost half a century whilst living all over the planet but is not a Scouser, I can tell you that there is a persistent perception amongst even non-football followers that people from Merseyside are somehow whiny, full of self-pity, on the dole etc. I have supposedly educated friends from all over the UK who refer to Scousers as “bin dippers”.
Is it a “grand conspiracy” along the lines of “The FA/the Illuminati/Elvis Presley has a pact to screw LFC”? No. It’s incompetence by refs, yes. The FA has also repeatedly shown itself to be a necrotic, incompetent ship of fools over the years. But it’s also biases, conscious and unconscious that have led to a perception of Scousers that could not be further from the truth from my experience on every visit to Merseyside, where the people are the most genuine I’ve met after visiting nearly 100 countries.
If you doubt the above, what do you call the events for decades after Hillsborough? I’d call that a conspiracy against LFC and the club’s supporters that involved everyone from the South Yorkshire police to 10 Downing. And it shouldn’t surprise anyone because the way the central government and Londoners in general have treated the Northwest since the 70s is worse than a conspiracy, even before Thatcher’s infamous quote. I think Andy Burnham might agree with me on that one at the moment as well.
To me, the worst thing on a forum that purports to be for the passionate supporters of a football club are the posters who try to come across as the “sensible, even handed, dispassionate ones” and disparage passionate fans who are clearly just being rightfully emotional in the heat of the moment. I hear they welcome those types of LFC “supporters” on the Caf.
(Edited to reflect almost 50 years, not 5 of support.)
