Product Description

The most high-profile referee this country has ever seen, the controversial and opinionated Graham Poll, exposes the myth that referees are the game's silent men, and opens the lid on the shocking and often unbelievable world of football that few outsiders get to see. Fully updated paperback edition with new chapters. Seeing Red is Graham Poll's incisive insight into football from his prime position as the man in black, the one in control, the eye that sees all. A Premier League referee since 1991 and with ten years as an international referee, Graham Poll has handled some of the toughest games in the Premiership involving Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea, as well as European Championships and World Cups -- in total over 1500 matches. What is it like to referee the biggest matches in international football? What really goes on between the players in the tunnel before a match and in the dressing room after? Who are the nastiest footballers? And the funniest? Who is the smartest manager? And are the bureaucrats ruining the beautiful game?Controversial and opinionated, Poll has crossed swords with some of the biggest names in world football and shares private conversations with the likes of Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Sepp Blatter and Steve McClaren, and the inside story behind controversial incidents involving Roy Keane, David Beckham, Patrick Vieira and current England captain John Terry, among others. Poll also talks about the infamous 2006 World Cup match when he failed to send off a Croatian player after three yellow cards in a crucial tie against Australia, returning home early in disgrace and with his career in meltdown. The games, the players, the managers, the suits -- the most outspoken referee in the modern game tells it as it really is.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2146 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
'Undoubtedly Graham Poll has been this country's top referee over the past ten years' Sir Alex Ferguson 'England's No 1 match official has lifted the lid on the disillusionment shared by many colleagues' Daily Mail 'Poll's fascinating response to years of criticism as one of England's top officials is far more interesting than the standard fare trotted out by most players these days - it also evokes the rarest of things in a football fan: sympathy for the referee.' 442 Magazine 'Poll's story is an interesting one. His behind-the-scenes material is frequently insightful and often funny.' Birmingham Post

About the Author
Graham Poll was born in 1963. A one-time employee of Nike -- where he turned down a Sales Directorship to pursue a refereeing career -- he has over 27 years of experience as an FA Premier League and international referee. As well as refereeing the 2006/07 UEFA Cup final, he has been the English representative at two World Cups and Euro 2000, and has handled games from the Bernebeu to the San Siro, and from Old Trafford to Stamford Bridge. He retired from professional refereeing in the summer of 2007. Mick Dennis has worked as sports editor of the Evening Standard and football correspondent for the Daily Express. In his spare time, he is also a football referee.

Customer Reviews

GREAT CANDID INSIGHT INTO THE MODERN GAME AND THE REF'S STORIES!
I loved this book and couldn't put it down. One of Englands' top ref blows the whistle on great incidents we have all seen on the box, who said what etc as well as talking about the game both domestic and international in general and his own career. This is a great book.

Poll goes into some detail about some key incidents inlcuding of course the media row with John Terry following the England captain's controversial sending off against Tottenham Hotspur after grappling with Ledley King. he also covers verbal tussles with Rooney and Mourinho in his final years at the top and of course who could forget the three yellow cards incident!

Poll digs in the FA too on the way they handle interaction with the officials at every level of the game, he also looks at behind-the-scenes tales of what it means to be a professional referee both at home and at major international tournaments, there is certainly a few things in here that will keep any football supporter interested, even (and sometimes especially) if you are not Poll's biggest fan.


After reading this book,you get the impression that Poll liked to be noticed - both in his career and since. Throughout, he does try to explain away how people came to think of him as arrogant - a character trait he likes to deny.

But you get the distinct impression from some of the anecdotes he furnishes the reader with that this is simply not the case.


The book is a good read in general and is punctuated with enough tales and stories to make it interesting - but with enough other substance so that the narrative is never a simple 'he said, she said'.

What is perhaps the most lavish praise for this book is the foreword by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Fergie is not exactly known for his love of the officials throughout football, especially when it comes to their timekeeping.

Therefore, the fact that he has taken the time out to write a generous introduction for Mr Poll's book suggests the man is genuinely a good and well-liked man among his peers.

There is, of course, the obligatory family history/upbringing/early life part to the book, although this is mercifully short and the focus is most certainly on the sections of Poll's career that people will buy this book for.

It's a good read for anyone with a vested interest in professional football as a whole, as it gives a viewpoint that is normally hidden from the public view.

Well worth a look.

Opiniated Poll
On his retirement as a referee it would appear that Graham Poll as chosen to write a book not about his life but as an opportunity to put his side of the story about many of the controversial episodes in his refereeing career. Fair enough. Unfortunately though, this gets a bit wearing after a while and, as a result, I found this book it to be a little dull.

It gets off to a slow start when far too much time is spent going over the events of a now largely forgotten Chelsea v Spurs game from a few years ago and, to me, really picks up after that.

Amongst football watchers, Graham Poll was never the most popular referee in the game, and this book makes it clear that he wasn't held in very high regard by many of his fellow referees neither. Whilst he says that much of the dislike was unfair, on reading this book I can understand why as he comes across as being very opinionated and, at times, self important.

Congratulations Mr Poll
I found this book to be a very enjoyable read. I think it is very effective in not only exploring Graham Poll's life as a referee but also in giving more detail about his life away from football. The book is written very well and is very easy to pick up and read for hours. I think this has to be one of the most enjoyable books around at the moment. I would recommend it to anybody.