I know it was a few years ago now, but nobody forgets the story of Sian Massey's second BPL appearance. This woman will have started running the line in the minor English football leagues across the country years ago. Spending her weekends down the side of muddy, uneven pitches on the coldest and wettest of days. She'll have gone through the usual array of abuse that match officials unfortunately have to put up with and yet she still continued to strive for higher achievements. It's a tough job officiating any match, constant training and exams to pass throughout.
After all that, to be judged and ridiculed on TV by an ex-professional player (who in his experience should know the difficulties officials face), and a TV pundit, is quite frankly disgusting. Admittedly, Sky dealt with the issue in a way they felt appropriate (much to their embarrassment), quickly and people moved on from it. But the issue still remains, sexism exists all around and it's only until a high profile case is pin pointed, that actions have been taken.
Many footballers, managers and people associated with the game, stood up for Massey. It was nice to see the amount of support she received, albeit there was still mindless comments from the Gray/Keys fanclub, but overall most people were backing her fully. Sian has since continued to display professionalism and is regarded highly as an official, recently being part of the women's European finals.
See this link for 5 videos that ended Keys/Gray's careers. Credit to Joe.ie
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