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Clip of the day

Den Ridder Miss

Beerschot's Nicoletta den Ridder somehow manages to scoop a rebound over the bar from a yard against Ajax. Oops

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Feature: Raving mad refs

Moments of madness from the men (and women) in the middle

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1 Dancing queen

Referees often get accused of wanting to be the centre of attention, but this chap simply has no case for the defence with this creative display of officiating.

2 Ball-boy bags goal

Quite how this Brazilian female referee and her officials failed to spot that the ball-boy had cheekily poked the ball into the net we do not know. But they did, and the goal was given.

3 Penalty pedantics

Pedantic refereeing taken to a whole new level, as a penalty is re-taken no fewer than five times before the man in the middle was finally satisfied. Jobsworth.

4 Ref nails winner

‘1-0 to the referee’ was blasted from the terraces after this man in black deflected the ball into the back of the net. ‘He was miles offside’ screamed the incensed manager.

5 Three card trick

Refereeing idiocy on the world stage, and it just happened to be Tring’s very own Graham Poll too, showing Croatia’s Josep Simunic three yellow cards before, eventually, sending him off.

6 Stephen Lodge

Why referees should stick to officiating and not try and look clever. Stephen Lodge’s attempts at a crafty back-heel go horribly wrong, making him look a right twonk.

7 Di Canio vs Alcock

Long before receiving FIFA Fair Play gongs for catching footballs, Paulo Di Canio was first made famous by ref, Paul Alcock, who comically stumbled backwards after being shoved by the Italian.

8 The ref strikes back

Forget picking up a booking for dissent, mouth off at this whistle-blower too much – and volley the ball at him – and you may receive a forearm smash to the back of the head, like this unsuspecting player.

9 Impartial refereeing

Fans have been known to accuse referees of ‘favouritism’ in matches. On this occasion the allegations were probably true as the man in black wheels away celebrating a goal.

10 Be careful who you book

Some players don’t take too kindly to being yellow carded. As this referee discovered once he’d regained consciousness.