Guys, I am not trying to start any fights nor am I blindly going to go through and say all refs in the USL are crap or anything like that. What I am going to post is a very odd feeling I have about the way refs call games for the Islanders and how many calls go for one team or the other. I have only seen Puerto Rico's home games and I know just by watching a few of them there is a particular ref that has come here several times and almost ALWAYS calls 2-3 controversial calls against the Islanders per game. I need to find this guy's name and post it up but I have seen him call about 4 games this season for the Islanders and he has had a direct influence on the outcome of some games such as the one tonight against the Atlanta Silverbacks where we had a player ejected EARLY. I notice that when the Islanders get caught doing something that is yellowcard worthy they almost always immediately get a card, if not worse, a red. Then when the opposing team does the same type of offense a foul is called but rarely are they given yellow cards. Against the Silverbacks we were awarded a PK for a foul that occured WAY outside the box but then we had to retake the PK 3 times, yes count it 3 times, for what the ref felt were Islanders invading the box too early. I have never in my entire life seen such crap at the pro level in any league and trust me I don't think the pk's needed to be retaken 3 times. This kind of thing shows this ref had it out for the Islanders from the get go. The crowd was getting more and more upset as the game went on and then it reached the point where the ref seemed to be making calls just to mess with the Islanders and its fans. I do not condone any plastic bottle throwing EVER and unfortunately it rained down after this game was over. HOWEVER I can't entirely blame the crowd for what was blatant bias against the home team. The first Islander player got ejected not for a foul but for visibly reacting angrily over a call towards the ref. This is a discipline issue that our coach Maradona needs to address BUT it this particular case it didn't warrant a red. I sit next to an Irish national who couldn't believe he gave a straight red for the protest and even less the 3 retaken pks plus some other obvious calls that seemed to have been made to instigate the Islanders and the crowd. I love the fact that PR has a team in the USL but when things like this happen over and over again its tough for fans to want to come back. Now its not just the refs that are getting a bad rap here on the island but our fans and players getting a bad rap in the USL. With calls like that I see slow progress in the growth of the USL in any city, especially in PR, and a total lack of respect for it. I wish USL refs were of a higher caliber than this tool that showed up on our Island and destroyed what should have been an exciting game to watch. What is also sad is that I hear the treatment the Islanders get when playing on the road is WORSE!
I know the referee in question - please do not post the name. I will remove it. Yes, it is sad when things like that happen, but I do not believe that he had it out for the Islanders and their fans as you have said. This gentleman formerly worked MLS matches. It will take a lot more evidence to convince me that he made these calls solely because it was the Islanders. No referee with a National Badge should ever do this. You see him more often because he's from southeast FL and it's more cost effective to have him there. That's just one of the disadvantages of your location. The only way ANYTHING could be done to attempt to change not seeing him as much is for the coach and/or GM to contact the league with MANY instances of problems. Then, they can take it to USSF to see about possibly not having him there, but since USL does not assign the referees, it's a long shot. The refs are independent contractors with USSF, not USL.