London, Dec. 11.
More than 100 referees were surprised to hear candid criticism of them as a body when Mr. A. V. Alexander M.P, former First Lord of the Admiralty, addressed the London Society of Referees.
Mr. Alexander, who played soccer for fifteen years himself, said "When the crowd roars I find that if the referee does not follow their judgment he is wrong in the majority cases"
Dealing with charging, he said that the referee often interfered too quickly and in the case of the sliding tackle he often blew the whistle when the man went for the ball. Of the question of off-side he said "Since the rule was altered referees whistle men off-side in positions where they are off-side when they play the ball but not when the ball was last played."—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.