Bromley: Appeal to find a fourth official at Shrewsbury was ’embarrassing’, says boss Andy Woodman

Bromley manager Andy Woodman has described the lengthy delay to replace an injured assistant referee in Saturday’s League Two game at Shrewsbury Town as “embarrassing”.

Woodman also said the 17-minute stoppage in the first half, which ended with a qualified referee being recruited from the crowd, had halted the momentum of his side’s good start as they fought out a goalless draw at Croud Meadow.

The stoppage came 26 minutes into the first half, when Scott Chalkley sustained an injury which meant he could not continue.

The fourth official Niall Felton stepped in to replace Chalkley, but Shrewsbury had to make an appeal over the public address system for a qualified referee to take Felton’s place on the sidelines.

That appeal was successful when Alan Cork, a level-five qualified referee, stepped forward – he can only take charge of matches in the 10th tier and below, but is able to fill a supplementary role at a higher level.

Woodman told BBC Radio London: “First of all, let’s hope the official [Chalkley] is OK. He seems to be OK, and that’s most important.

“It was an embarrassing situation for the referees’ management, to have to ask for someone to come out of the crowd to get the game going. I’ve never known that in my life.

“I don’t really know what to say about it – it’s embarrassing. It stops the momentum of the game, and we had the momentum at that point. I’m sure [Shrewsbury manager] Michael [Appleton] will look at it differently.

“The second half then becomes a bit of a damp squib because these players have been out on their feet since two o’clock. It’s a red-hot day and a long shift for them. It’s tough on both teams, and shouldn’t happen.”