Swindon boss Ian Holloway left ‘fuming’ at referee Richard Eley and slams Fleetwood fans during the 1-1 draw on Saturday afternoon.
Ryan Tafazolli’s 31st-minute header put the Robins ahead, then Ryan Graydon levelled on the verge of half time.
The draw means that Swindon, with 30 points from 16 games, go top of League Two, thanks to Colchester’s 2-0 win at Walsall, who drop to second. Fleetwood meanwhile sit 13th with 23 points from 16 games played, 3 points from the playoff places.
Good old Ian Holloway hasn’t changed. Booked by the ref, then had to be pulled away from the fourth official. Proper football character, there’s not enough of them now. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/QzCkE8mkTS
— Hillsy-the-Gooner (@GoonerHillsy) November 15, 2025
this is all i got pic.twitter.com/amhxiHTn53
— IAN (@jiff1967) November 15, 2025
Holloway said, per Swindon Advertiser: “The goal they scored was very good.
“But I am fuming with something that happened before. We should have had a free-kick because Ollie Palmer was unbelievably fouled.
“You get a free-kick at that time of the game then I am sorry, their goal doesn’t happen and we’ve won.
“For the decisions he (referee) was making before that, it was an obvious free-kick to us. But he didn’t give it and that’s what I find frustrating.
“The performance I am questioning isn’t that of my team. And that’s the safest way to put it.
“That said, I think a draw was a fair result on the balance of it all when we weren’t firing on all cylinders because of the injuries and suspensions we have got.
“I don’t know what got me booked. I pointed out Tafazolli got elbowed. Apparently, I shouldn’t talk to them.
“But I got hammered by people behind me. They are so rude. Do they think it was acceptable? I don’t think so.”
Speaking to the club’s media: “I knew it was going to be tough. They’ve gone behind recently and come back and won. So, I knew they’d have their tails up, but thought we deservedly went in front and then didn’t get a free kick.
“Blatant free kick on Ollie Palmer, foul on Ollie Palmer and then that led to them scoring. So, you know, well done for them for the goal.
“But couldn’t say how how disappointed I was at half time and these things happen sometimes, but you know in the final third we did enough created enough to actually have got in front by more than one and that would might have been enough but it was a tough game well done to them.
“Some of their counterattacks were good. Their goal was excellent, but yeah, some of the things I saw out there was a little bit frustrating to say the least.
“You know, silly silly things, silly challenges, silly fouls, how many they got to compared to us. Mate, it’s all weird, but I’m sure I’ll watch it back and feel maybe slightly different than I feel right now, but bitterly disappointed in certain levels of performance, not my team.
“I’m pleased with our performance and from my team and my players and just didn’t get what we wanted but I’m not disappointed.
“I felt that performance the level of it tweaking here and there in the final third decisions.
“On another day the people the same people in those positions might have made a slightly different decision and we might have won.
“I thought it was marred by some decisions that I thought were not to a level that I would expect.”
Fleetwood manager Pete Wild said: “Swindon are the best team I have seen here this season. They caused us lots of problems and we didn’t get a glove on them at first.
“But I also felt we gave them a good going over and caused them lots of threats. We were dominant second half and thought we were maybe the team to nick it at the end.
“So it is highly frustrating their goal was offside. But I am pleased with a solid, dogged performance against one of the top sides in the league.”
He told BBC Sport Lancashire: “What a really good game of football. Two teams going bang at each other, which I said during the week I thought it would be. It’s one of the best teams I’ve seen here this season by a mile.
“I thought they caused us lots of problems. I thought they got into areas to really hurt us. They were a constant threat to our back line.
“So we’ve had to defend really well today. But I also think that we’ve given them a real good going over. We’ve caused them lots of threats. We’ve got in the box.
“I thought we were really dominant second half, and I thought that we were maybe the team that was going to nick it at the end. This point, I think, is their goals offside, which is highly frustrating, but there’s nothing more you can do about that.
“So I’m really pleased with a real solid performance against one of the top sides in the league.
“We didn’t get a glove on them, and we didn’t start to stop them from doing that. We dropped too deep and we sat off them and sunk in. And when that goal came, it’s frustrating because we’ve sunk in and we’ve really not got on the front foot to deal with that.
“However, coming into half-time, I thought the last 10 minutes coming into half-time, again, I thought we got a foothold in the game and I thought we really deserved our equaliser.”
Here’s how Twitter users reacted with Swindon boss Ian Holloway left ‘fuming’ at the referee and slams Fleetwood fans…
@BPACKER_: THE worst referees performance of the season, how on earth is that a foul from palmer. #stfc
@SouthCoastRed: WTF. Why didn’t I know you could get a free kick if you took out one of your own players..?! #STfC
@SouthCoastRed: Decent first half. Crap second. Ref was shit. Take the draw against a team with a good home record… #STFC
@adimale1981: Another crap, inconsistent ref… 4 bookings to zero… hmmm #STFC
@TheLappin: This referee is absolute shit by the way #stfc
@Charles55657306: The ref cost us today.. foul leading up to their goal and then palmer goes 1on1 with the keeper late in the game and the ref blows for a foul on their player? #stfc
@MarkRackstraw: Thought the ref was very poor today. Can’t understand why the officiating is so consistently poor in this division.
this ref is a prick pic.twitter.com/KkwqNgKeUb
— IAN (@jiff1967) November 15, 2025
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