“What do You Know About Football?!” – Ex-Referee Reveals Hilarious Stories on Former Liverpool Stars | OneFootball

Former Premier League Referee Reflects on Best Memories with Five Ex-Liverpool Stars

Referees. We have all had issues with certain ones over the years, whether that be when playing or watching the football. Liverpool fans have especially had every reason to have issue with some of the officiating against them in recent years.

But have you ever wondered which Liverpool players have caused issues for referees in the past?

Former Premier League referee Peter Walton spoke exclusively to Anfield Index and shared some funny moments from his time refereeing the Reds over the years…

Photo: IMAGO

Craig Bellamy

“You won’t be surprised by this name,” began Walton, “But Craig Bellamy was always a pain in the a***e!”

“He’s a nice man off the field, but as soon as he stepped onto the pitch, he became this guy that could argue about anything,” said Walton, “Many times I have had run-ins with him on the field but one of the management tools of a referee is to try and build a relationship with the players.”

Photo: IMAGO

“Craig didn’t want anything to do with the referees.”

“I remember him scoring a goal at Anfield when he played for West Ham United and it was a terrific goal,” continued Walton, “We were walking back up to the halfway line and I said ‘Craig, that was a fantastic shot’ and he just looked at me and said, ‘Well you’re just a referee, what do you know about football!’”

El-Hadji Diouf

“Another guy that comes to mind was El-Hadji Diouf, he was hard work!” said Walton.

“You’re trying to keep your eye on the ball or on the play, but really you were always keeping an eye on Diouf!”

“You just never knew what he was going to do and he was the same when he moved to Bolton Wanderers too.”

Photo: IMAGO

I think it’s fair to say that Liverpool supporters would react pretty similarly if you were to ask them for their thoughts on Diouf…

Luis Suarez

“Luis Suarez! When he came to the league, he exploded onto the scene but he would fall down if anyone breathed on him,” said Walton.

“I remember being at a referee meeting and we had various clips shown to us about the way he was buying fouls and advantages from going down easily.”

Photo: IMAGO

“I refereed them the following week and I said to Steven Gerrard to tell him that he would be getting nothing from me tonight.”

“But from that moment me and Suarez got on well because he realised that I knew what he was trying to do.”

Peter Crouch

On a more positive note, Walton shared some of his more favourable memories from officiating Liverpool over the years. You may have expected to see Crouchy on this list…

“Peter Crouch couldn’t score any goals when he first signed for Liverpool and he even missed a penalty I gave him in front of the Kop!”

“He was a top guy though and was never any bother at all.”

Steven Gerrard

“Steven Gerrard was a pleasure to referee, such a natural leader and he would never really argue with you,” said Walton.

“He had too much focus on the game to even think about arguing with the referee.”

Photo: IMAGO

“He was a really good guy on and off the pitch.”

It’s exactly what we come to expect from Gerrard, who was such a classy act.

Our question to you is, which current Liverpool players do you think the current referees will be telling these stories about in the future?