In the latter stages of the All-Ireland championships, some referees may be left with a form of emotional conflict.
If their native county is still involved, they obviously want them to do well and go all the way to glory – but of course, that means that they themselves would miss out taking charge on the biggest day.
Ordinarily, Meath’s run to a first All-Ireland SFC semi-final since 2009 would impact on David Gough’s prospects but, having sustained a hamstring injury during the Down-Clare game in early June, he is sidelined and so can get fully behind Robbie Brennan’s side, who take on Donegal on Sunday.
“I grew up with Meath teams winning All-Irelands, they won four in my time and Sam Maguire was a regular visitor to the schools in my youth.
“It hasn’t been there since 1999 and there are young people playing football who have never seen Sam Maguire in Meath and that is strange to think,” says David, who is also a primary school principal in Dublin.
The Royals’ progress aside, his time on the injured list has been a culture shock.
“It’s extremely frustrating in that I would been waiting for a text message to do a game,” he says.
“Only once since 2015 had I not refereed a quarter-final, for instance – though I was at least able to do sideline official for the Kerry-Armagh game.
“At our level, you want to be in the middle of the field and it is difficult when you can’t do that. The surgeon decided not to operate and said he would give it 16 weeks and see how it comes on.
Sidelined by injury
“I’m in the gym every day and it’s not easy – it’s monotonous, it’s boring, it’s not what I want to be at – but I know it’s what I have to be at, to get back, and that’s aiming to get back for a fitness test in January next year.
“I have never been injured, so, at 41, to find yourself out for 16 weeks is something new for me. I have placed myself in the hands of the professionals who know better than I do and I’m just going to follow what they tell me and hope that I can recover, the same as other elite athletes.”
And it’s worth bearing in mind just how active a referee can be, all the more so considering that they are usually at least a decade older than the players. The new football rules have served to increase the mileage, too.
“The GPS data shows that we’re running more per game than we have in the last couple of years,” David says.
“At the Dublin-Galway game in Salthill, which is a small enough pitch, I had 11.5km on the GPS and 67 sprints in that match, or accelerations, which shows you the nature now of the game with turnovers and movements of play.
David walks off injured with Down secretary Seán Óg McAteer at half time of the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 2 match between Down and Louth (31 May 2025). /Sportsfile \Piaras Ó Mídheach
“It’s not as monotonous and over-and-back the field as it used to be, so while there is that knowledge now coming to us scientifically-based, we’re starting to get back up to levels of fitness that we would have had a number of years ago.”
While Gough did, at the beginning of the year, air criticisms of how the new rules were being implemented, he is now more than satisfied with the effect they have had following a few tweaks.
“The FRC did a great job,” he says, “I wasn’t a fan of the way they went about their work and the amount they brought in but certainly, since we’ve done our homework, rules have been amended to help us implement them.
“Things have changed drastically since midway through the league. It did need input from referees, who are able to pick at holes and anomalies and issues within the rules and the way they were worded and what was going to cause us issues.
“A lot of it is self-discipline and it has been wonderful for the championship because it has allowed a greater flow and speed to the game, where delays aren’t happening where players are holding on to the ball. Unlike other years, people are now really looking forward to football matches again.”
And are those games easier or harder to administer than the average club clash?
“I wouldn’t say the biggest games are the easiest,” Gough says, “but what can often happen though is that, for the bigger, more high-profile games, the teams will have their homework done on referees.
“Also, their understanding of the rules are much better. As players, they are more focused on the job at hand and what they have to do. They’re not so worried about the decisions the referee is making, because generally the standard of refereeing in football is so high. We don’t have very high-profile instances of missed red cards, missed penalties or missed scores, because of Hawkeye.
“We’re quite fortunate in that vein in football, that there’s such a very conscientious group of referees at a high level.”
A referee must deal with the game in hand – Gough doesn’t buy into the cliché of a good ref being the one who is never seen.
“That’s one that I always struggle to hear,” he says, “because a good ref is seen and heard when he’s needed to be seen and heard, that’s what I would say.
“I’m there to facilitate a game of football and back in 2023, when I did Dublin-Kerry, I didn’t have to blow a whistle for nine minutes – that’s not because I decided not to blow the whistle but because players played inside the rules.
“When that happens, the game flows and we’re not seen; people assume then that you’re having a good game, but players dictate that.
“All any of us want to do is to get the next big game on the following Sunday or the final Sunday in in the championship and we can only do that by performing at our best every time we go out.”
In the latter stages of the All-Ireland championships, some referees may be left with a form of emotional conflict.
If their native county is still involved, they obviously want them to do well and go all the way to glory – but of course, that means that they themselves would miss out taking charge on the biggest day.
Ordinarily, Meath’s run to a first All-Ireland SFC semi-final since 2009 would impact on David Gough’s prospects but, having sustained a hamstring injury during the Down-Clare game in early June, he is sidelined and so can get fully behind Robbie Brennan’s side, who take on Donegal on Sunday.
“I grew up with Meath teams winning All-Irelands, they won four in my time and Sam Maguire was a regular visitor to the schools in my youth.
“It hasn’t been there since 1999 and there are young people playing football who have never seen Sam Maguire in Meath and that is strange to think,” says David, who is also a primary school principal in Dublin.
The Royals’ progress aside, his time on the injured list has been a culture shock.
“It’s extremely frustrating in that I would been waiting for a text message to do a game,” he says.
“Only once since 2015 had I not refereed a quarter-final, for instance – though I was at least able to do sideline official for the Kerry-Armagh game.
“At our level, you want to be in the middle of the field and it is difficult when you can’t do that. The surgeon decided not to operate and said he would give it 16 weeks and see how it comes on.
Sidelined by injury
“I’m in the gym every day and it’s not easy – it’s monotonous, it’s boring, it’s not what I want to be at – but I know it’s what I have to be at, to get back, and that’s aiming to get back for a fitness test in January next year.
“I have never been injured, so, at 41, to find yourself out for 16 weeks is something new for me. I have placed myself in the hands of the professionals who know better than I do and I’m just going to follow what they tell me and hope that I can recover, the same as other elite athletes.”
And it’s worth bearing in mind just how active a referee can be, all the more so considering that they are usually at least a decade older than the players. The new football rules have served to increase the mileage, too.
“The GPS data shows that we’re running more per game than we have in the last couple of years,” David says.
“At the Dublin-Galway game in Salthill, which is a small enough pitch, I had 11.5km on the GPS and 67 sprints in that match, or accelerations, which shows you the nature now of the game with turnovers and movements of play.
David walks off injured with Down secretary Seán Óg McAteer at half time of the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 2 match between Down and Louth (31 May 2025). /Sportsfile \Piaras Ó Mídheach
“It’s not as monotonous and over-and-back the field as it used to be, so while there is that knowledge now coming to us scientifically-based, we’re starting to get back up to levels of fitness that we would have had a number of years ago.”
While Gough did, at the beginning of the year, air criticisms of how the new rules were being implemented, he is now more than satisfied with the effect they have had following a few tweaks.
“The FRC did a great job,” he says, “I wasn’t a fan of the way they went about their work and the amount they brought in but certainly, since we’ve done our homework, rules have been amended to help us implement them.
“Things have changed drastically since midway through the league. It did need input from referees, who are able to pick at holes and anomalies and issues within the rules and the way they were worded and what was going to cause us issues.
“A lot of it is self-discipline and it has been wonderful for the championship because it has allowed a greater flow and speed to the game, where delays aren’t happening where players are holding on to the ball. Unlike other years, people are now really looking forward to football matches again.”
And are those games easier or harder to administer than the average club clash?
“I wouldn’t say the biggest games are the easiest,” Gough says, “but what can often happen though is that, for the bigger, more high-profile games, the teams will have their homework done on referees.
“Also, their understanding of the rules are much better. As players, they are more focused on the job at hand and what they have to do. They’re not so worried about the decisions the referee is making, because generally the standard of refereeing in football is so high. We don’t have very high-profile instances of missed red cards, missed penalties or missed scores, because of Hawkeye.
“We’re quite fortunate in that vein in football, that there’s such a very conscientious group of referees at a high level.”
A referee must deal with the game in hand – Gough doesn’t buy into the cliché of a good ref being the one who is never seen.
“That’s one that I always struggle to hear,” he says, “because a good ref is seen and heard when he’s needed to be seen and heard, that’s what I would say.
“I’m there to facilitate a game of football and back in 2023, when I did Dublin-Kerry, I didn’t have to blow a whistle for nine minutes – that’s not because I decided not to blow the whistle but because players played inside the rules.
“When that happens, the game flows and we’re not seen; people assume then that you’re having a good game, but players dictate that.
“All any of us want to do is to get the next big game on the following Sunday or the final Sunday in in the championship and we can only do that by performing at our best every time we go out.”
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