EFL star risks punishment after claiming referee 'doesn't really understand football' in furious rant

Ed Griffiths
Sun, 12 Apr 2026 09:09:58 +0000

Hull City forward Oli McBurnie launched a scathing attack on referee John Brooks following his side's 2-1 loss to Sheffield United on Saturday, declaring that the official "doesn't really understand football".

The striker's fierce post-match comments came after what he and his teammates viewed as a series of divisive officiating decisions during the Championship encounter.

Brooks found himself at the centre of Hull's frustrations after several key moments went against the Tigers, transforming him into the primary target of the club's anger.

McBurnie made no attempt to hide his displeasure with the match official's performance throughout the contest.

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The decisive moment arrived in the 75th minute when Brooks dismissed John Lundstram for a second bookable offence, reducing Hull to 10 men while they held a 1-0 advantage.

McBurnie argued that the referee himself had obstructed Lundstram from reaching the ball, which caused the midfielder to commit the foul on Jairo Riedewald.

The striker told TalkSport: "The second one, the referee's clearly in Lunny's way, he's had to run around him and that's why he's off-balance as he's making a tackle.

"Now, understandably, that's a foul."

He added: "But I think the referee has shown he doesn't really understand football too much. Anyone knows that if you've played football and you're in the way, you use a bit of common sense.

"You give the foul but you don't give the yellow card, because if you're not in the way there, Lunny can run in and take the ball and there's no foul whatsoever."

The striker admitted he was unaware Lundstram had already received a caution for an earlier altercation with Mark McGuiness.

Within 10 minutes, Brooks pointed to the spot after judging that Kyle Joseph had fouled Riedewald during a goalmouth scramble.

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McBurnie claimed the referee appeared uncertain about which player had committed the infringement, questioning how he could then award a penalty.

The forward added: "Then the penalty, we've just watched it back in there, we're still not sure who the foul is on."

"I asked the referee during the game who the foul was on, he said he didn't know and told me to go away.

"Which is interesting as well, I don't know how you can give a foul if you're not sure who it's on. I don't really know what more I can say on the referee."

McBurnie noted he had witnessed similar jostling "maybe 10 times a game" without penalties being given throughout Hull's season.

Gus Hamer converted the resulting spot-kick to draw Sheffield United level in the 85th minute.

Hull's misery deepened three minutes later when substitute Danny Ings found the net for only his second goal of the campaign, securing all three points for the Blades.

Despite the painful defeat, the Tigers cling to sixth position in the Championship with 68 points, maintaining a four-point cushion over Wrexham in the play-off race.

The Hollywood-backed Welsh club could narrow that gap to a single point with victory over Birmingham City today.

Sheffield United climbed to 16th following their triumph at Hull.