New information has emerged revealing who’s to blame for the bizarre Chelsea huddle incident involving referee Paul Tierney.
Tierney, stood over the ball before kick-off, didn’t move away as Chelsea’s players gathered around him for their pre-match huddle inside the centre circle before last Saturday’s Premier League clash against Newcastle United.
The unusual scenes were heavily criticised by fans and pundits alike. Former Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart said on Match of the Day: “This just didn’t feel like something that should be happening in the Premier League.”
Ex-Swansea City and Wales defender Ashley Williams added: “It just makes a farce of the whole thing.”
Meanwhile, former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee Keith Hackett wrote on X (Twitter): “I thought this was AI at work. This incident is not funny. It undermines the authority and integrity of the match official. In his pocket is a yellow card and it should have been out and shown to the captain. Tierney made to look a fool.”
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Chelsea 'Warned Before Match'
Referee Paul Tierney in middle of Chelsea huddle
Referee Paul Tierney in middle of Chelsea huddle
The Telegraph’s chief football writer Sam Wallace has now exclusively revealed that Chelsea’s players stood around Tierney despite being warned not to before the match.
The report claims Chelsea staff were told at the pre-match meeting between officials, representatives from both clubs and the Premier League not to form a huddle around the centre circle if Newcastle were about to kick off.
Chelsea representatives were told the players should form a huddle in their own half. The west London club were pre-warned by Tierney that he would be standing on the centre circle spot in the moments before kick-off and would hold his ground.
Paul Tierney in Chelsea huddle
Paul Tierney in Chelsea huddle
The idea was to prevent a potential confrontation between Newcastle and Chelsea players over the huddle. This is because of a separate incident during the previous week which saw Aston Villa’s frustrated players complain to referee Jarrod Gillett about Chelsea’s controversial huddle tactics.
Tierney was subsequently instructed by referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials [PGMOL] to stand his ground on the centre circle to avoid a repeat incident.
However, Chelsea’s players ignored the instructions, which led to the farcical pre-match scenes before the Blues’ 1-0 defeat against Newcastle.
Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior, who raised eyebrows by insisting his players wanted “to respect the ball and show unity and leadership”, has since said that the centre-circle huddle is now off the agenda.
There was no repeat of the huddle before the club’s Champions League Round of 16 second leg clash against Paris Saint-Germain at Stamford Bridge in midweek.