Millwall fan steps in as assistant referee after TWO officials unable to carry on
Initial referee for Championship clash against Bolton Tony Harrington pulled out through illness and his replacement Lee Swabey injured his calf during the first half at The Den
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ONE football fan went to The Den yesterday to watch his beloved Millwall - but ended up as the linesman.
In a "chaotic" twist of events, Steve Perry was brought in as an emergency replacement for the Championship game against Bolton.
The initial referee appointed to the game was Tony Harrington but he had to withdraw at late notice due to illness.
It meant fourth official Lee Swabey took the whistle and Perry was drafted in to keep control of the dugouts.
But as if things were not crazy enough, Swabey then pulled his calf midway through the first half and had to go off.
So assistant referee John Leach became the ref, Perry was given some hasty instructions and ran the line and Swabey retreated to his initial role as fourth man.
Perry normally referees in the South Eastern Premier Division but could not completely hide his love for Millwall during the first half.
Bolton manager Phil Parkinson said: "It was chaos.
"The first ref got injured in the warm-up so we had a Millwall fan as fourth official, who jumped up and applauded when Jordan Archer made that double save in the first half. We had a moan to him, jokingly.
"But then all of a sudden that Millwall fan became the linesman. It was strange and we were 1-0 up but then the assessor came down at half-time to say they had to speak to Dave Allison to see what the procedure is now.
"God knows what would have happened if another one went down.
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"It was a bit chaotic because, as you know, it can be difficult for referees and linesmen at Millwall at the best of times.
"But when you have got a Millwall fan who has come out of the stand and ends up running the line… Well, thankfully he showed plenty of integrity."
Millwall boss Neil Harris was also questioned on the unique scenario but praised the officials for how they dealt with it.
He said: "I think I am right in saying the guy that came and took over as fourth official and took over linesman was at the game by chance. It was a bizarre situation.
"Did it make any different to the players on the pitch? Absolutely not.
"Did it make any difference to us on the side-line? Absolutely not.
"The only difference was, the fourth official was not miked up with the referee, so you can’t have that communication, but at the end of the day sometimes that is better for me and Phil. It was brilliantly handled."
Amid the referees' nightmare, Jake Cooper grabbed an equaliser for the hosts with eight minutes remaining to cancel out Bolton defender Mark Beevers' early header. The match ended 1-1.