Flaherty's frustration exposes rift between players and officials

Gilly Flaherty is not the first player to complain to officials about a tight call which has gone against her in a game and she will be far from the last. However, the West Ham captain's decision to take to Twitter to berate the standard of refereeing in the Women's Super League demonstrates how deep the feeling is amongst the players.

Following a summer transfer window which has seen the arrival of a raft of international superstars into the English game, there is an underlying sense the quality of officiating has failed to keep pace.

Flaherty was incensed to see Arsenal take the lead against her team on Saturday through a goal which, in her view, was clearly offside. She was sent off for dissent and her former club went on to hammer West Ham 9-1. 

"I wasn’t going to tweet anything regarding yesterday’s game, and I have to be careful here in what I say," she said on social media. "First of all, I didn’t get the second yellow because I lost my head because I’m playing against my old team. I got a second yellow for me telling the lino it was a poor decision.

"The decision killed the game and ruined what would [have] been a great game. People will have their own opinions on it and think I’m wrong or think I’m awful as a player/person or whatever but that’s sweet. However, something needs to be done regarding the standard of officiating in our league because we as players and clubs are getting let down week in week out because of it."