The Imps’ opponents this weekend, Exeter City, head to Sincil Bank with a familiar backdrop.
In recent years, they’ve not been shy about voicing frustrations over refereeing decisions when facing us, and their manager, Gary Caldwell, has been at it again following last weekend’s defeat to Huddersfield Town.
In fairness, he had a point back in March, when they should have had a goal, but it was ruled out late on. Caldwell was sent off after that moment, with David Perkins and Ryan Woods sent off in the reverse fixture earlier in the season.
This weekend, the Grecians had a Jack Fitzwater goal chalked off for offside in the 1-0 loss, a decision Caldwell described as simply wrong. His post-match reaction framed Exeter as a side repeatedly hard done by, a narrative that sets the scene as they travel north.
“It’s not offside. He’s not offside. Referees have one of the hardest jobs, second to football managers, but we have to get these decisions right or make an example to say they got it wrong.”
Caldwell also argued that Exeter are becoming too easy to officiate against, claiming bigger clubs get the benefit of the doubt while his side do not.
“It is too easy to give decisions against us. We can’t be the team that’s always hard done by and we have to stand up for ourselves. It is always this way. I am not criticising them or saying they are biased but it is human nature to give it to the bigger club. We need to get our fair share as we get nothing at this level.”
On stoppage time, Caldwell was equally critical, pointing out that only one minute was added in the first half and four in the second, despite plenty of stoppages. In fairness, I felt the same when we only got four minutes against Chelsea, despite a raft of subs and two goals.
Caldwell suggested referees should be held accountable when their calculations don’t match reality.
“They come to us in the summer and meet us and say it will be exact added time. I’m saying watch it and look at the stoppages and if it is eight minutes then we need a phone call to say I’m sorry that four minutes we gave you was eight, but they don’t do it.”
All told, the message is clear: Exeter arrive feeling persecuted, frustrated, and looking for fairness. For City, the challenge is to make sure the talking points on Saturday night are about football, not refereeing. Given our booking record early doors, that might not be so easy.
A lot also depends on who the game is allocated to – Andrew Humphries is the official, a first-year ref stepping up for the National League, with three reds and 26 yellows in his opening nine fixtures.
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