{"id":288630,"date":"2023-09-13T22:19:37","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T22:19:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=288630"},"modified":"2023-09-13T22:19:37","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T22:19:37","slug":"i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I refereed Man Utd vs Liverpool \u2013 fans sent death threats and cancer jokes’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has opened up on the 'death threats' and other abuse he encountered after overseeing one game between Manchester United and Liverpool.<\/p>\n

It was Halsey's job to keep tensions to a manageable level during a 2012 clash between English football's two most successful clubs. Almost exactly 11 years ago, the ex-official showed Jonjo Shelvey a first-half red card at Anfield before United came from behind to beat their hosts 2-1.<\/p>\n

And Halsey – who has overcome cancer, while his wife will undergo treatment for Leukaemia for the rest of her life – said the social media backlash following that result was the worst he's experienced in his career. The 62-year-old was "blamed for sending Jonjo off" despite his attempts to soothe players early on during the match.<\/p>\n

"I remember Jonjo went through a United player in the first minute, and you could argue it was a caution. But in those sort of games, you can't go straight in for a yellow card in the first few minutes, because you're gonna have a hatful," he told the Under The Cosh podcast. "You've got to manage those games. <\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/b>Meet son of ex-Prem manager who is England amputees boss \u2013 and had awkward Sir Alex meeting<\/b><\/p>\n

"And I remember getting stick off my evaluations saying I should've cautioned him, but you can't! I remember the United players were going ballistic saying, 'That's a yellow card!' I said 'Get away and I will deal with it.' And I spoke to Jon and said, 'Any more and you're gonna get a caution.'"<\/p>\n

Halsey – who retired at the end of the 2012\/13 campaign, having returned to the top flight after beating a non-Hodgkin lymphoma – looked back on the fixture as a "really good game". However, the reaction he received from the public online was anything but.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The new football season is nearly upon us and with 500 live games to watch, as well access to Cricket, Golf, F1, Boxing, NFL and the NBA across eight<\/span> dedicated channels, Sky Sports is the <\/span>only way to watch all the action.<\/span><\/p>\n

Get Sky Sports from \u00a322 a month<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Premier League's tallest XI \u2013 including lanky Liverpool winger and gangly Chelsea flop<\/p>\n

"But on that, [I'll] say the fallout from that game on social media was horrendous for me and my family," he added. "Listen, I can take it. To reach the top level, you've got to be mentally tough, mentally strong."<\/p>\n

Asked whether that particular example was "a different level" to the abuse he was used to facing, the former official said: "Absolutely. Especially when they wanted my young daughter to die of cancer. And my wife's cancer to come back and [kill her]. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sky Sports is bringing you 500 live football games to watch, as well access to Cricket, Golf, F1, Boxing, NFL, NBA and more across eight<\/span> dedicated channels. Sky Sports is the <\/span>only way to watch all the action this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a322 a month<\/p>\n

"And there's a bullet waiting for you… you know, we can take it. But when it starts impacting on your family, that's not right. And I know the police got involved, they done a great job. A couple of people got interviewed [over the threats], and one of the guys lived up in the north east. He was gonna lose his job over it, and I remember speaking to his boss and saying, 'listen, don't sack him over it – he's got a family'."<\/p>\n

He went on to say that particular supporter "wrote a long letter apologising," explaining he was going through a lot of personal turmoil when he lashed out. Halsey cast a content figure as he insisted: "You've always got to forgive people. That's social media today, isn't it. There are many keyboard warriors that need sorting out."<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

While many fans may get extremely invested in clubs and their fortunes, Halsey and his family's lives were invaded by unseen figures threatening actual harm. And although he shows a mature and accepting response now, it clearly wasn't such a simple matter to deal with back then.<\/p>\n

It's by no means uncommon for excitement to boil over whenever United and Liverpool are on the billing. However, Halsey's tale serves as a reminder of the power fans have in the social media age – and the damage that can be easily inflicted upon officials just for doing their jobs.<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has opened up on the 'death threats' and other abuse he encountered after overseeing one game between Manchester United […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-288630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"yoast_head":"\n'I refereed Man Utd vs Liverpool \u2013 fans sent death threats and cancer jokes' - Sportstoft<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'I refereed Man Utd vs Liverpool \u2013 fans sent death threats and cancer jokes' - Sportstoft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has opened up on the &apos;death threats&apos; and other abuse he encountered after overseeing one game between Manchester United [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sportstoft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-13T22:19:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeanette\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeanette\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/\",\"name\":\"'I refereed Man Utd vs Liverpool \u2013 fans sent death threats and cancer jokes' - Sportstoft\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/I-refereed-Man-Utd-vs-Liverpool-\u2013-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-13T22:19:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-13T22:19:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/I-refereed-Man-Utd-vs-Liverpool-\u2013-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/I-refereed-Man-Utd-vs-Liverpool-\u2013-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Soccer\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/category\/soccer\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"‘I refereed Man Utd vs Liverpool \u2013 fans sent death threats and cancer jokes’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sportstoft\",\"description\":\"sportstoft.com\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\",\"name\":\"Jeanette\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeanette\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'I refereed Man Utd vs Liverpool \u2013 fans sent death threats and cancer jokes' - Sportstoft","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'I refereed Man Utd vs Liverpool \u2013 fans sent death threats and cancer jokes' - Sportstoft","og_description":"Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has opened up on the 'death threats' and other abuse he encountered after overseeing one game between Manchester United [...]","og_url":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/","og_site_name":"Sportstoft","article_published_time":"2023-09-13T22:19:37+00:00","author":"Jeanette","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeanette","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/","url":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/","name":"'I refereed Man Utd vs Liverpool \u2013 fans sent death threats and cancer jokes' - Sportstoft","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/I-refereed-Man-Utd-vs-Liverpool-\u2013-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes.jpg","datePublished":"2023-09-13T22:19:37+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-13T22:19:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/I-refereed-Man-Utd-vs-Liverpool-\u2013-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/I-refereed-Man-Utd-vs-Liverpool-\u2013-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes.jpg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-refereed-man-utd-vs-liverpool-fans-sent-death-threats-and-cancer-jokes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Soccer","item":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/category\/soccer\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"‘I refereed Man Utd vs Liverpool \u2013 fans sent death threats and cancer jokes’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/","name":"Sportstoft","description":"sportstoft.com","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609","name":"Jeanette","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeanette"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}