'A difficult one' - ex-referee gives honest Birmingham City controversy verdict after Charlton clash

Birmingham City continued their march towards the League One title with a hard-fought 1-0 home victory against promotion rivals Charlton Athletic.

The Blues extended their unbeaten run to 15 league matches after a 23rd minute strike from the league’s leading goalscorer Jay Stansfield who claimed his 16th goal of the season in just 23 appearances. The victory gave fans plenty to smile about in the run-up to their EFL Trophy semi-final showdown against Bradford City as Chris Davies’ side aim to treat fans to a trip to Wembley Stadium later this season.

However, the victory could easily have been more comfortable for the Blues if it wasn’t for a controversial call from Seb Stockbridge, who failed to spot an apparent handball outside his area from Charlton’s goalkeeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer.

Many fans were left angered by the decision of Stockbridge and his officials not to penalise Maynard-Brewer and bemoaned the lack of quality of referees at this level. One fan posted on X: “Another three points for the Blues! What a poor referee and linesman. Shocking decisions! Well done today Blues!”

While another added: “I think both Blues and Addicks fans can both agree on the awful standard of refereeing in this league.”

Birmingham vs Charlton controversy explained

Early on in the game, Birmingham City goalkeeper Ryan Allsop beat the high line by sending a long high ball forward down the right flank in the direction of star striker Jay Stansfield.

Maynard-Brewer came out of his area in an attempt to shepherd the ball to safety, but found himself under pressure from the onrushing Stansfield. Before the ball had crossed the line into his penalty area, the Charlton goalkeeper dived on the ball before it had reached the box. An incensed Chris Davies was booked for protesting the call as the Charlton keeper escaped without a booking or a foul.

‘A difficult call’ - former referee shares reaction

Former Premier League referee and PGMOL Chief Keith Hackett says Maynard-Brewer was very fortunate to escape without a booking after handling the ball outside of his penalty area. Giving his reaction to that incident to Football Insider, Hackett said: “For me he’s handled outside, he pulled it back in. One of the things that I would just highlight is that the line itself is the penalty area. So the referee’s got to be very clear that the ball is outside the penalty area. It looked to me as though the ball was outside the penalty area and he pulled it in.

“But the referee’s got to be absolutely clear, he can’t guess, and I think this is just about the worst position on the field of play for the referee and an assistant to judge. The assistant is not going to be able to give it because he’s looking at it flat on, the referee’s diagonal, which is moving towards the outer post rather than the area in which the potential offence takes place.”

He added: “So it’s a difficult one. Years ago in UEFA this is why they had the additional assistant behind the goal and that’s one of the things that he would patrol, as the ball’s coming down the wing, he’d move to a position looking down the outer edge of the penalty area to detect.

“It looks as though he’s handled. The reality is this: one you cannot guess, and if you look at it, in good refereeing terms the benefit of the doubt goes to the defender. So I think putting myself in the eyes of the referee, he’s not got total confidence if you like vision, as to whether it’s outside, he’s not going to guess, he’s given the benefit of the doubt to the goalkeeper.”

Birmingham, who have ambitions to make it back into the Premier League in the near future, are on course to achieve the first step towards that goal by winning promotion this year. The Blues, who continue their plans towards building a new stadium, are nine points clear at the top of League One and through to the latter stage of the EFL Trophy.