Wanker: Noun; British English: A commonly used British word used to describe a jerk, asshole or jackass. Another word for “tosser”, which is usually referred to when someone is being a tool or a complete dick.
This is an important word to know, especially if you were at Saturday night’s Rowdies game and watched the referee.
It’s rare for me to blame the referee for the outcome of a game, but the stadium-wide chants of “the referee’s a wanker” and “bullshit” kind of make the blame seem warranted.
Saturday’s game, miraculously ended in a 2-2 draw, was overshadowed by atrocious officiating and fan frustration.
“I was really excited for the match today. When the Rowdies and Cosmos clash, it’s a big event,” Rowdies coach Stewart Campbell said after the match. “But I thought we were blatantly cheated tonight. I know it’s a strong, strong word and I’ve really thought about what I was going to say and trying to be composed but the decisions [by the referee] tonight were disgusting.”
The Rowdies dominated the first half of the match but left for the locker room at halftime with little to show for it other than contempt for the referee, who made several mistakes in the match.
And the second half only got worse.
“The officiating was probably the worst I’ve ever seen,” Campbell continued. “It can’t go on. It’s terrible decisions, and cost us two points at home.”
New York went up 1-0 on a free kick awarded by the referee after a Cosmos player displayed an award-winning flop to draw the foul. The referee should have stopped play to give him an Oscar; instead, he stopped play and gave New York a free kick from 20 yards out that allowed the Cosmos to take the lead.
Joe Cole seemingly had a goal for Tampa Bay, but was mysteriously called off by the referee. No explanation was given, but Cole looked fouled in the box before falling down to score the goal. The match remained in favor of New York, and fans began throwing trash and other items onto the field after the goal was called off.
Cosmos went up 2-0 on a goal that could and should have been flagged for an offside, but the goal stood.
“I got to say something about the fans as well,” Campbell said. “They kept the players going, they could have easily felt sorry for themselves, 2-0 down, but the atmosphere tonight in the stadium was probably the best I‘ve ever known it. I thought the fans were unbelievable; Ralph’s Mob was great as usual. Everybody should take credit for that.
Those fans had something to cheer for at the end of the game when the Rowdies scored two late goals to tie the match at two goals a piece.
The Rowdies pushed hard and forced New York to commit the ultimate error, and scored on themselves in the 84th minute.
The fan-favorite referee awarded a penalty kick to the Rowdies 10 minutes later and Joe Cole was the hero. Cole stepped up and tied the match seconds before the referee blew the final whistle.
“It’s a great game for the fans to watch, but just feel like we were on the wrong side of so many decisions. It’s difficult,” Cole said after the match. I’m sure the ref is a lovely guy, but […] we don’t seem to be getting any breaks. I don’t know why.”
Coach Campbell was unfortunately not on the sidelines for the game-winning goal. He was sent off by the referee after the Rowdies were awarded the penalty kick.
Campbell said he was sent off for applauding the decision of the referee.
“No fouls words or anything,” Campbell said, whose assistant coach was sent off earlier in the match as well.
“That one was for them,” Campbell said.
Never a dull moment with the Rowdies. The match on Saturday was part of a historic rivalry that started in 1975. Rowdies and Cosmos were the marquee matchup back in the firs heyday of the sport in America. Rowdies won the first championship in 1975 over the New York side, and the rivalry never died.
Saturday's rivalry was against the officiating, but Tampa Bay mustered a 2-2 draw in the midst of the opposition. Campbell said the draw was not justified, but a draw is not a loss.
That's something American sports needs to get used to.
This article appears in Jul 21-28, 2016.