Sheffield Wednesday: Former Premier League referee weighs in with verdict on controversial disallowed goal

The Owls beat Plymouth Argyle 1-0 on Saturday to go top of the table, but Byers’ thought he’d wrapped up all three points in the second half when he slotted past the goalkeeper and celebrated making it 2-0 in front of the Kop.

It wasn’t to be, though, with the officials taking their time before ruling out the goal, deciding that Lee Gregory was in an offside position.

There were suggestions afterwards that they had watched the replay on the big screen before coming to a decision, however Gallagher doesn’t seem to think that was the case.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said, I think it’s offside, I think Lee Gregory leaps the ball from an offside position and he impacts on the goalkeeper. He impacts the goalkeeper because A) he doesn’t know whether he’s going to touch the ball, and B) because he blocks him off.

“I think the problem is that the assistant knows he’s in an offside position, which isn’t necessarily an offence, but he doesn’t know where he is in relation to the goalkeeper.

“The referee does, and it forces their hand that they have to speak. The referee goes to his assistant, and between them they decide offside.”

The decision didn’t prove crucial in terms of the result on the day, but fans will be hoping that that extra bit of goal difference doesn’t have any role to play come the end of the campaign.

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