Brian Gavin

A forum to air your views on Offaly GAA matters and beyond.
Buttons
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Brian Gavin

Post by Buttons »

So the Offaly Competitions Control commitee (CCC) were going to give Brian a one months ban for comments made about Padraig Pierce during a Clara Kilclonfert game. This would have put him out of refereeing the semi final this weekend until Croke Park cleared him. It is not like Offaly have that many referees but why propose a one month ban is typical of Offaly. Remember when McManus got the ban years ago forcing him out of the Offaly game for getting a red for Tubber.

Brian lets the game flow and lets hurling be played, he could blow up more but is consistant and would say most county teams love when they see he is reffing.

SearingDrive
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Re: Brian Gavin

Post by SearingDrive »

Buttons wrote:So the Offaly Competitions Control commitee (CCC) were going to give Brian a one months ban for comments made about Padraig Pierce during a Clara Kilclonfert game. This would have put him out of refereeing the semi final this weekend until Croke Park cleared him. It is not like Offaly have that many referees but why propose a one month ban is typical of Offaly. Remember when McManus got the ban years ago forcing him out of the Offaly game for getting a red for Tubber.

Brian lets the game flow and lets hurling be played, he could blow up more but is consistant and would say most county teams love when they see he is reffing.
Brian Gavin was reported for allegedly making abusive comments to Padraig Pierse after a JFC Q/Final, Clara v Kilclonfert.
Not good from an inter county ref to a colleague. It looks like double standards.

Plain of the Herbs
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Re: Brian Gavin

Post by Plain of the Herbs »

Firstly, there’s potentially a serious situation here as, not for the first time, the Offaly Board have failed to support a referee who has reported someone for abuse. Many will remember when Mick Mahon was assaulted by a Shinrone supporter following an U21 match a number of years ago. The assailant got away scot free.

Searing Drive is correct. Páuric Pierce cited the Clara Chairman for verbal abuse and the Offaly CCC proposed a suspension. That is the regular procedure everywhere and not just in Offaly. The Clara chairman opted for a hearing as is his right. The role Croke Park played was to ask the Offaly Board to bring the hearing forward by a week, which they did, because Brian GAvin was already appointed to referee Kilkenny v Waterford. The Hearings Committee met last night and for whatever reason opted to rubbish the referee’s report, opted not to suspend the accused for abuse of the referee and opted not to protect this referee and other referees. Why? Did they think Páuric Pierce made it all up?

I don’t know Brian Gavin, but I don’t like his style of refereeing. I don’t know anything about Páuric Pierce. But neither has nothing to do with my opinion on this.

No the next time you complain (as I sometimes do myself), that the same old referees are getting matches, that no new referees are being recruited, and that many who do take up refereeing don’t stay at it for too long, there’s a good reason. And if they do happen to suffer from personal verbal abuse, or get clattered, they are on their own. That is the unfortunate reality.
Pat Donegan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

kingscounty
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Re: Brian Gavin

Post by kingscounty »

Why would anyone new want to be a ref after this carry on ? It's still a case of looking after their own by the sounds of it . He lets to much go during games and I don't like the way he refs games . Plus as a ref for years surely he should have the cop on to not abuse a fellow whistle blower as I sure he got plenty of abuse down the years .

Towerus
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Re: Brian Gavin

Post by Towerus »

To say the board haven't supported a ref is a little misleading in my opinion as the hearings committee are not under the control of the county board. Whether they got it right or wrong, I have no clue, but if they got it wrong, there are procedures in place for the CCC to take it further.

As for imposing the ban in the first place, once it was in the referee' report the CCC were obliged to follow the rule and cannot simply turn a blind eye no matter how much they might want to.

blinkers
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Re: Brian Gavin

Post by blinkers »

As far as I know Gavin got off on a technicality. Something to do with the specifics of the abuse he gave not been clear in the refs report. What Gavin said to ref was outrageous no matter how good bad or indifferent the ref was nobody deserves that level of abuse. He is chairman of a big club 1 of the best known refs in the county he should be leading by example not behaving like he has. The gaa promote the 'give respect , get respect' idea. How can anybody respect him as a referee anymore. I'd imagine croke park are aware of what was said so after today's match I can't see him getting many more matches.

ah lethimoutwithit
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Re: Brian Gavin

Post by ah lethimoutwithit »

It is outrageous what went on in this case. First of all, I respect what Gavin has achieved in getting to the top of the pile as a referee, and also the work that he puts in behind the scenes in Clara GAA.
But in this case I am disgusted, he was guilty and should have taken his punishment. He was bang out of order and the big loser in this is Pauric Pierse.
Fair enough Pierse didn't cover himself in glory during the game, but in fairness, no one deserves the type of abuse that was directed at him, it was a difficult game to referee.
Its another dark chapter in Offaly Gaa.

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Bord na Mona man
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Re: Brian Gavin

Post by Bord na Mona man »

This is what James McGrath (the referee) posted on Facebook last night.
Kilkenny advance to the final with victory over a gallant young Waterford team; 38 blocks/hooks to 14. Extremely hard week for the Gavin Family on the death of Paddy (Brian's Uncle who attended last years All-Ire. Final) from Mount Temple. May he R.I.P. Shame on the local media in Offaly who were quick to publish a report that lacked all facts at such a sad time. And to all the 'gobshites' who slated Brian on twitter etc. without the fair judiciary process completed. All questions answered today

kingscounty
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Re: Brian Gavin

Post by kingscounty »

It leaves the gate open for players and supporters to hurl more abuse at refs , one could appeal a ref report and reference Gavin's outcome and how can the county board object . Condolences to Brian on the loss of his uncle , but there's no excuse for abusing the ref even if Pearse had a bad day .

SearingDrive
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Re: Brian Gavin

Post by SearingDrive »

Sorry to hear about Brian's uncle passing away. Most posters would have been unaware of this bereavement,and would sympathise with the Gavin family.
I agree Brian Gavin had a good balanced game yesterday. He is a top referee.
The real issue most people have, is the alleged post match abuse to a fellow ref after a football game, and the controversy that followed. It didn't reflect well on GAA
.
Time to move on from this now.

kaiserchief
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Re: Brian Gavin

Post by kaiserchief »

I'd love to know the reason why the ban wasn't given.

Gavin wouldn't accept an interview by any media to clear his name so he was obviously in the wrong and was waiting for the monkeys in the county board to cover his arse.

Just shows that politics is still evident

ah lethimoutwithit
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Re: Brian Gavin

Post by ah lethimoutwithit »

No way to butter this up but that a stroke was pulled to get Gavin off.

Owens was hardly at the match himself so what would he know.

The match was a farce in many ways, but all of the cards that were handed out were valid in my view and for him to get involved and what he said is outrageous.
Yep sure he is a decent ref, and condolences on his bereavement, but he knows what he did and what he said and Clara on the evening let themselves down along with Kilclonfert to a lesser degree, and as Chairman of the club he was at the core of it.

But time to move on as has been said, though it certainly wont be easy for Pierce in this case who must surely be desperately disappointed.
It would not have been easy for him to name such a highly respected figure in his report and he would not have done so lightly.

keyboardwarrior
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Re: Brian Gavin

Post by keyboardwarrior »

POTH makes a good point about prospective refs coming into the game and the need for them to feel protected.

I’d be uncomfortable about the intervention by James Mc Grath in all of this (if those comments posted by BNMM are indeed his). As a general comment as a high profile referee I don’t think the tone of the comments do him any favours.

To deal with all of his points:-

Without knowing what ‘local media in OY’ he is referring to, any member of the local media are fully entitled to report on whatever they wish, sporting or otherwise, fact or opinion, so long as the publication is correct in terms of fact and not defamatory in terms of opinion. McGrath states that those comments ‘lacked all facts’ which does not imply that anything was incorrect or defamatory. If anything was incorrect or defamatory Brian Gavin would be entitled to insist on subsequent corrective action by the publisher.

The issue is newsworthy on two levels:-

1 A high profile ref name-checked as an alleged perpetrator of abuse in a post-match report by a colleague IN ANY SPORT is has novelty value and is definitely newsworthy.

2. Outside the GAA the stereotype of pitched battles on the field and baying crowds off of it ensures headline news for any melee or abuse for referees so stories like this are desirable content for the national publications.

Is McGrath suggesting that local media should have ignored this story entirely?

Does anyone know who in the ‘local media in OY’ who went too far in the reporting of this story? Lone Shark - I know you contribute to a number of local media sources and perhaps you would know your way around enough to comment on this?

He went on to say that “All questions answered today”. Does anyone know where you can get a written determination on the outcome of the Hearing Committees appeal and if that determination reports on the minutiae of the facts beyond the bare outcome of the hearing? (Talk of ‘strokes’ by contributors here are well beyond the pale unless that can be shown to be the case which I don’t think it can be based on anything currently in the public domain).

Finally on the sensitive point of a family bereavement, and with the greatest of respect to Brian Gavin and his family on the passing of his uncle, I think Gavin himself would accept that if he were in the same situation as Pearse (where he was abused to the point where he felt duty bound to identify the alleged perpetrator in a post-match report) he would expect that the due process of the CCC would be seen to have been adhered to regardless of anything happening outside of that process.

Taking the comment by Blinkers in isolation –

“As far as I know Gavin got off on a technicality. Something to do with the specifics of the abuse he gave not been clear in the refs report”

- if that was indeed the basis for the CCCs decision to reverse the earlier proposal/decision to suspend then that would leave me, for one, feeling very uneasy for about the whole outcome. If this were true, the upshot would mean that a referee would have to consider submitting a sworn affidavit setting out every bit of known detail alongside his match report or alternatively make a statement to the Gardai as a simple summary of the facts clearly wouldn't suffice to ensure a successful penalty for the perpetrator.

Whatever the basis for the final determination it should be brought out into the open for full and open consideration. Perhaps then Mr. Mc Grath could share his thoughts on that.

The one thing I do welcome about the whole affair was the intervention by Croke Park which suggests they are beginning to take matters like this more seriously than in the past.

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Bord na Mona man
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Re: Brian Gavin

Post by Bord na Mona man »

keyboardwarrior wrote: I’d be uncomfortable about the intervention by James Mc Grath in all of this (if those comments posted by BNMM are indeed his). As a general comment as a high profile referee I don’t think the tone of the comments do him any favours.
The comments are definitely McGrath's and I did a straight copy and paste. It probably wasn't wise for him to make a stand on the issue. He makes a some unspecific claims, though I don't expect him to elaborate on what facts were lacking.
I had a look at what was posted on twitter around the time the story broke and I didn't see any outrageous. Just the usual sprinkling of comments that people make about every referee in the GAA - claiming they favour certain teams.

Buttons
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Re: Brian Gavin

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