BBC Breakfast’s Charlie Stayt was left red-faced and dishing out apologies after a technical hiccup threw a spanner in the works.
Presenters Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty were delving into the issue of parents’ “unruly” antics on the sidelines as they watch their kids play football, with new measures being rolled out in Lincolnshire to tackle the problem.
Joining them was sports journo Mike Bushell, who’s got first-hand experience keeping order as a ref for his step-son’s matches, alongside sports shrink Zach Hickmore.
Naga quizzed Mike, saying: “I’m really interested in how it makes you feel, because you was saying you don’t run the line as you call it.”
Mike replied, “I try not to volunteer anymore no”, just as Naga tried to bring in David Denham via live link, a seasoned ref with 40 years under his belt, reports the Express.
(Image: (Image: BBC))
But from Naga’s words, it seemed the Beeb was having a mare trying to get David on the line due to some tech gremlins.
She said: “David, good morning to you. Hi David, we’ve been having a conversation and been trying to get your line established but we’ve been having a conversation here, just a kind of final thought from you really.”
Wrapping up, she asked: “How does it make you feel when you volunteer at grassroots level, to referee a match and get the abuse you’re getting, what do the kids say to you when the parents are going a bit ballistic? “.
David struggled on air as tech issues caused a hitch, with his words echoing, “It’s very difficult, because I’ve been doing it for such a long time.”
He continued despite the issues, saying, “I don’t tend to get too much but a lot of young referees are getting that and it is demoralising..”
Naga swiftly apologised, blurting out: “Oh apologies!”
(Image: BBC)
Charlie then jumped in, apologising as well, “I’ll tell you what, I’m so sorry David, I’m going to have to stop you there, my apologies.”
He explained the situation, stressing, “It’s all our problems here, we’ve got a fold back thing going, basically we can’t hear a word of what the referee is saying which is not good.”
“My apologies. It happens sometimes.”
Naga brought the focus back, remarking, “He’s still smiling though and I think that’s the trick of referees, just being able to calm the situation down.”
Finally, Charlie concluded, “Not easy when you’ve got people in your face, is it?”
BBC Breakfast is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
