Curson gets second Burnley game

Last updated : 15 April 2003 By Tony Scholes

We hadn’t seen Curson at a Burnley game until October of this season when he refereed the home victory over Walsall. It is fair to say he had a nightmare.

At the time this is what I said about his performance,

"I must comment on referee Brian Curson after his first Burnley game. There is little I can say in defence of a referee who never gave the impression he knew what was going on.

"By the end of the game he had given out six yellow cards and certainly five of them were an absolute nonsense. The sixth, for Glen Little, was for dissent and without knowing what was said it is difficult to comment.

"Early in the game he didn’t seem to have any sort of grip on the game but then decided he would start waving his yellow cards around. Sadly when the moment came, a blatant elbow, he chose to take no action.

"He is not a referee I want to see again in a hurry although almost certainly he will have gone home believing he has had a good game."

The six players he booked in that game were Graham Branch, Tony Grant, Glen Little and Dean West along with Walsall's Steve Corica and Fitzroy Simpson.

This season he has given out 97 yellow cards and 11 red cards in 34 games with 61 of those yellow cards going to away team players and 36 to home team players.

Four of his eleven red cards not only came in one match but all four came in stoppage time at the end of the 3rd Division game between Exeter and Cambridge at St. James’ Park, won 2-1 by Cambridge.

Exeter keeper Kevin Miller was rightly sent off in the first incident but then Glenn Cronin and Gareth Sheldon (both Exeter) and Shane Tudor (Cambridge) were all sent off as a free for all developed on the touchline. Curson seemed not to have a clue what was going on and there was some confusion as to who he had sent off.

Both managers expressed concern at the way he had handled the game and Cambridge boss John Taylor appealed against Tudor’s red card, an appeal that was upheld. Taylor said at the time that the referee had finally seen some sense.

Hopefully he will have seen some sense by the time he takes to the field at Fratton Park, we do not want a performance anything like the one at the Walsall game.