Exclusive: Referee ‘brilliant’ after record red for Shrewsbury’s Marquis
Keith Hackett has hailed referee Martin Woods for the red card he showed to Shrewsbury Town striker John Marquis during his side’s defeat to Peterborough United.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that Woods had done “brilliantly” to be switched on to make such a decision so early in the game.
That match between the two sides at London Road on Saturday (1 March) was a key one, as both sides battle to avoid relegation from League One.
However, a major moment in the match would come just seconds after it began, when Shrewsbury found themselves down to ten men.
John Marquis set EFL record with sending off
As the visiting side looked to make a strong start to the match straight from kick-off, a high ball was sent deep into the Peterborough half.
But with Marquis looking to be the man to get on the end of it, he threw out an elbow which caught Sam Hughes in the face.
| League One position | Played | Points |
| 17. Peterborough United | 33 | 37 |
| 18. Northampton Town | 34 | 37 |
| 19. Exeter City | 32 | 36 |
| 20. Bristol Rovers | 33 | 35 |
| 21. Burton Albion | 34 | 33 |
| 22. Cambridge United | 33 | 29 |
| 23. Crawley Town | 33 | 29 |
| 24. Shrewsbury Town | 34 | 27 |
The Peterborough defender then went to ground, prompting Woods to send Marquis off for Gareth Ainsworth‘s side with just 13 seconds on the clock.
That makes the dismissal the fastest in the Football League since Opta began records for such incidents back in the 2013/14 season.
Having been forced to play effectively the entire game with ten men, Shrewbsury slipped to a 3-1 defeat that damaged their League One survival hopes, and boosted Peterborough’s.
Hackett meanwhile, believes that Woods was absolutely right to issue that red card to Marquis even so early on in the game.
Keith Hackett hails referee after Shrewsbury Town red card
Speaking to Football Insider about that decision by Woods to send Marquis off so early, the former referee said:
“The mindset of the player is he thinks he’s going to get away with it but he’s got no chance! I have to tell you, this really is for me the excellent piece of refereeing of the weekend.
“When you’re a referee, you do your pre-match warm-up, you’re prepared and this is the type of incident where you can blow the whistle to start the game.
“Then you start playing around with your watches, making sure they’re all on time, and all that goes with it and whoosh, you’ve missed that.
“This referee: fully prepared, alert, concentrating, he’s blown his whistle the game’s off, and he’s seen it, he’s got it 100% correct and he’s acted. He’s not even hesitated, he knows straight away that’s a red card.
“It is a brilliant piece of officiating. It’s one that could so easily have been missed… that’s the best piece of refereeing this weekend.”
Peterborough are now set to travel to Blackpool on Tuesday (4 March), while Shrewsbury will attempt to bounce back from this defeat when they host Bristol Rovers on that same evening.