Stoke City fans will ‘never forget’ what referee did to them as EFL confirm Millwall appointment
Stoke City fans will ‘never forget’ what referee did to them as EFL confirm Millwall appointment
Millwall host Stoke City at The Den on Saturday with a familiar referee appointed in charge for the Potters.
Stoke City supporters may be rolling their eyes at news of the EFL official decision for this weekend’s trip to Millwall with Andy Davies to oversee the Championship clash.
Neil Harris’ side host the Potters in an early Saturday kick-off at The Den. Millwall are looking to bounce back from midweek defeat against Leeds United while Stoke City are buoyed by a 1-0 win over Blackburn Rovers, a first victory in five.
Davies is in charge of the fixture on Saturday and is a regular in the Championship. The referee worked at Luton Town’s 2-1 win over Cardiff City in Wales in midweek having also been in charge when Hull City beat Plymouth Argyle 2-0 at the start of the month.
Andy Davies in charge for Millwall vs Stoke City
The official has not been in charge of a fixture involving Millwall this term but has worked with Stoke City three times, most recently in the side’s 3-1 defeat to Middlesbrough. When covering that match, the Stoke Sentinel commented on the referee in the 67th minute in a live blog and said: “Poor refereeing from our old friend Andy Davies (we will never forget that Watford game). He lets Dael Fry clatter Sam Gallaher then stops play so Hayden Hackney can have a sit down (no need for physio).”
It’s fair to say that the Potters have a rocky relationship with Davies. That infamous Watford moment came in November 2020 when Stoke City were beaten 3-2 at Vicarage Road.
Stoke took the lead through Steven Fletcher in that fixture but just before the half-hour mark came a strange equaliser in what the Sentinel described as Davies rolling ‘back the clock to the Nat Lofthouse era, with added misused goalline technology’.
Ismalia Sarr delivered a cross for the Hornets, which Tom Cleverley fired goalbound. Stoke goalkeeper Angus Gunn tipped the shot onto the bar and then collected the ball, only to be clattered into by Joao Pedro and knocked over the goal line. Davies gave the linesman a quick look but awarded the goal.
Stoke City ‘won’t forget’ Watford decision
Speaking after the game, former Stoke City boss Michael O’Neil said: “We didn’t think (the first) was a goal. Looking back at it and seeing the television replays I think it’s clear that the shot hasn’t crossed the line and then the technology is triggered by the Watford player and Angus, which puts the ball over the line. We felt very aggrieved by the goal but I thought our reaction to that was very good.
“We go behind in the game. The penalty is poor, we lose the ball in a bad area and don’t clear it but how we react to that is excellent. And then we feel the referee missed a handball in the build-up to the third goal as well. Overall it was one of those nights when we felt we deserved something, didn’t get anything, and we have to deal with it and move on to the next game.
“They are being told by the technology but they have to look at events as well. On this occasion, technology didn’t help them in any way. Without technology I don’t think he’d have given the goal. It was the technology which told him the goal was there. But I think in this case when you review events it was a very harsh decision against us.”
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