The moment suspended referee David McNamara makes Women’s Super League captains — including England skipper Steph Houghton — play rock, paper, scissors instead of coin toss
- READ: Sportsmail’s exclusive story about the FA suspending David McNamara
- Referee McNamara forgot his coin in the dressing room on October 26
- He had the two captains, including England skipper Steph Houghton, play game
- The FA decided to suspend referee McNamara for 21 days from November 26
This is the moment England captain Steph Houghton and Reading’s Kirsty Pearce had to play rock, paper, scissors instead of a coin toss.
Referee David McNamara left his coin in the dressing room ahead of the 1-1 Women’s Super League draw between Houghton’s Manchester City and Reading on October 26.
And rather than returning or going to the touchline to collect one, he had the two skippers decide their ends and who would take kick-off with a game of rock, paper, scissors.
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England captain Steph Houghton and Reading’s Kirsty Pearce are spoken to by the referee
Referee David McNamara forgot his coin in the dressing room ahead of the WSL match
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Both players can be seen in the video, which appeared during live coverage from BT Sport, playing the game as McNamara watches on.
Sportsmail revealed that the referee had been suspended for three weeks on Tuesday afternoon. His suspension takes effect on November 26, although he can appeal.
An FA spokesman said: ‘The FA can confirm that referee David McNamara has been suspended for 21 days, starting from Monday 26 November, after accepting a charge of “not acting in the best interests of the game”.
He decided to have the two captains play rock, paper, scissors instead of the coin toss
The two captains play the game, with Reading’s Pearce selecting rock under McNamara’s gaze
‘This follows an incident in the WSL match between Manchester City and Reading on Friday 26 October when he failed to determine which team would kick off the match by the toss of a coin, as required by the Laws of the Game.
‘McNamara will return to duty from Monday 17 December.’
Reaction to the incident on social media skewed both ways. Twitter user @DeadBloke commented: ‘Imagine the reaction if a female ref had done that.’
@BillyDenner said: ‘The bloke needs to remember 4 things. Whistle. Watch. Pencil. And a f****** coin! He deserves it’.
Houghton and Pearce shake hands before the Women’s Super League game
McNamara was suspended by the FA for ‘not acting in the best interests of the game’
McNamara forgot his coin for the toss-up so made the players play rock, paper, scissors
But @DoctorLeeds wrote: ‘Really? Sounds like a practical solution to the problem.’
‘Of all the reasons there might be to suspend an official, using an arbitrary decision-maker in lieu of another arbitrary decision-maker really shouldn’t be one,’ said @NavGirl13.
@RobDar91 said: ‘That’s worse than poor officiating which doesn’t get any punishment? C*****, the FA are a stupid bunch.’
‘How painstakingly ridiculous,’ added @JoelShooterFoot, while @clpblue1 continued: ‘And this is exactly why not one football fan I know is a fan of the FA. Their priorities are so wrong it’s not even funny’.
The two captains involved in the incident included England Women skipper Houghton
It happened before the Women’s Super League match between Manchester City and Reading
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