Referee stretchered off after ball hits his head as Charlie Austin scores in 5-0 Swindon win against Grimsby on Saturday afternoon.
At the time, the scorelines was goalless, with the Robins trying to clear their lines, but instead of the ball being hoofed up the pitch, it ended up hitting referee Sam Purkiss right in the face.
The official then fell to the ground and stayed down, laying flat out without moving with Swindon’s medical team getting on to help him.
After receiving treatment, a stretcher was brought out for Purkiss, who was applauded as he went inside from both sets of fans as he was taken down the tunnel.
“Referee Sam Purkiss has now been stretchered off, and we’re going to see a change of match official here…” Swindon Town wrote on their Twitter.
“A really unfortunate incident. We hope it’s nothing serious and wish him a quick recovery. The action is back underway.”
Referee has been knocked out in Grimsby v Swindon today @TheOfficialFNG #gtfc #stfc @StokeyyG2 pic.twitter.com/7qlDKhMkgT
— Nolan Schuster (@NolanSchuster4) January 14, 2023
Never seen this before in thousands of games watching football.
Referee out cold, stretchered off & gets standing ovation.
11 mins on the clock and referee Sam Purkiss is hit full on by a clearance from the home side. The Swindon medics on the scene immediately.#STFC #GTFC pic.twitter.com/mUbtQwef7C
— Chris Hull (@mrchrishull) January 14, 2023
Just five minutes later, a change in official was made. Austin, Swindon’s big January signing, headed home from close range to score the Robins’ first goal since 2009-2011.
Marcel Lavinier, Jonny Williams, Ronan Darcy and Saidou Khan all added after the break, sealing the 5-0 win over Grimsby.
The victory moves Swindon, who lost assistant Jamie Day and Scott Lindsey to Crawley Town on Wednesday, up to sixth place in the League Two table.
Swindon Town interim head coach Gav Gunning thought his team could have scored eight.
He said, as per Swindon Advertiser: “When you’ve got Charlie in the team, to get his full effect and to draw their centre-halves out, sometimes we lent it, we went down the sides, we went over the press sometimes to link it.
“The transition was really fast, it was effective. To be fair, it was five but it could have been eight.
“He was good, though. It wasn’t a world-class performance, but it was a very good performance for League Two level.
“His performance was probably above the level, but we had a few lads who played above the level today.”
Asked if Swindon’s sparkling display was simply a case of putting the handbrake down and letting them play, Gunning replied: “Definitely not. There was a lot of work which went in during the week. We played to a good structure.
“As the game developed, they had a man sent off, we changed our shape and went to two wing-backs with three centre-halves. I think it really worked.
“We played through the lines really fast, quick tempo when we moved the ball, and we put the ball in the net. It was very good.”
This is what Twitter users said with a referee stretchered off after ball hits his head while Charlie Austin scores in the 5-0 Swindon win…
@mrchrishull: Just spoke to Sam. He is groggy and dazed but he is sat up talking in the medical room. Surrounded by medics and is in good hands. He just had a giggle when I told him he is the only referee in history to receive a standing ovation from a stadium full of football fans. 🙏 👏
@BarryCPage: Was so bad the actual impact and the force of it…he was out cold before he even hit the ground…so glad he is OK considering…can we have a shout out for the temporary 4th official he did a great job with the subs 👍
@NestDevil09:
Never seen before:
-Ref knocked out cold and stretchered off
–or–
-standing ovation for ref?
All the best to Sam. Hope he follows all the concussion protocols that players do
@1horseracing1: Is he ok???
@joteddyuk: Referee knocked clean out be the ball 😩 Never seen that happen before! Not even moved @Official_STFC
@tommyb1508: Good stuff. Hell of a bump
@janiced95545005: Hope the ref will be ok
@justinmorton74: I think in over 30 years of watching Swindon I don’t think I have ever seen a referee stretchered off on a body board #stfc
@SwindonSparkle: Never known a referee to be applauded when leaving the field of play, even if he has been carried off on a stretcher.
@NolanSchuster4: Serious situation but at the same time you have to laugh
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