I organised the Christmas parties for Premier League referees… we wouldn’t get away with similar antics today
A FORMER Premier League referee reckons the annual Christmas parties he would organise for officials would not be allowed now.
Jeff Winter took charge of top-flight games between 1995 and 2004.
The referee had another role while he was officiating as he was also the social secretary.
In this role, he would be responsible for organising the league’s referee’s Christmas bash.
While he did not reveal precise details about went on, Winter insisted that they would not be able to get away with their antics in today’s world.
Winter took over the role from Peter Jones but believes that current referees would be too vulnerable to seeing their behaviour hit social media.
He exclusively revealed to Ladbrokes Fanzone: “When Peter Jones – who was an absolute gent – retired from active refereeing, I took over as the Premier League Referee Social Secretary, so I was responsible for organising the Christmas parties, and the other nights out.
“Let’s just say, what goes on tour, stays on tour.
“We had some fantastic times, I can tell you that.
“But, in a squad of 23 or so people, vastly different characters from different geographical locations, of course you had your cliques, the ‘us and them brigade’.
“But basically when we all got together for a social occasion, we all had that one thing in common: we were all referees.
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“And we had some fantastic times together. It all just seems such a long time ago now.
“I don’t know what it would be like today with the presence of social media… some of the things we could get away with back in the day, or do, on a night out, it was very much between us there and the four walls we were in.
“Nowadays, you can’t go to the loo without someone getting a camera out and tweeting it.
“I do feel for today’s refs, and the players, of course. It’s a different world, totally and utterly.”