Ten Of The All-Time Worst Refereeing Decisions To Go Against Lincoln City

9: The Offside That Wasn’t

No, not that one. Not yet.

Lincoln were mounting a late comeback at Griffin Park on 29 September 1969 when the officials intervened to leave us empty-handed. Trailing 2-0 at half-time in the Fourth Division fixture, City had fought their way back into contention before Alick Jeffrey’s fierce left-footed strike in the 82nd minute finally reduced the deficit.

Barely 30 seconds later, George Peden broke down the left and pulled the ball back from close to the byline for Rod Fletcher to sweep home from outside the six-yard box. Referee R. C. Crabb pointed to the centre, but then spotted linesman D. Drewitt’s flag and disallowed the equaliser for offside. The glaring problem was that Fletcher had been behind the ball when Peden supplied him, making the position of Brentford’s defenders irrelevant.

Even the home supporters had applauded the finish before the celebrations were cut short, and Maurice Burton’s report described City as robbed of a point. Fletcher told him: “I never got in front of the ball at all. It was the worst decision I have ever met in football, and I feel as though I had something worthwhile taken away from me.” Brentford survived the remaining minutes to win 2-1, while City’s comeback was undone by a decision that contradicted the most basic detail of the move.