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17th Feb 2021

Referee squares up to Alan Judge in bizarre altercation

The referee in charge of Ipswich vs Northampton appeared to push his head into Alan Judge, before he cautioned the Ipswich midfielder

Reuben Pinder

It at least injected a bit of drama into the bore draw

Fans were left shocked by the sight of referee Darren Drysdale squaring up to Ipswich Town’s Alan Judge during a 0-0 draw with Northampton at Portman Road on Tuesday night.

The booking appeared to be for a supposed dive, after Judge tumbled in the box and appealed for a penalty. Play continued and after a subsequent challenge saw the ball go out of play, Drysdale called the Irish international over for a chat.

Words were said, and seemingly provoked the referee into squaring up to the player – the sort of thing players have been sent off for in the past. Drysdale then brandished a yellow card.

Following the coming together in the box, the ball goes out of play, and the referee blows his whistle before calling Judge over for a word.

Drysdale then rather suddenly starts walking towards Judge and doesn’t stop until he’s about a centimetre from his face.

FIGHT. FIGHT. FIGHT.

HOLD ME BACK, BRUV. HOLD ME BACK.

Yellow card, seems fair. Oh, wait, that’s for Judge and not for himself?

Following the game, which saw Town end with 10 men after a late red card, their boss Paul Lambert said:

“It should have been a penalty on Judgey [Alan Judge] at the end but it is a results business.

“The aftermath of that incident needs to be looked at.”

Here is the full video clip of the incident:

You certainly don’t see that every day.

 

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