Nine game ban and fine for Bedford Town boss Lee Bircham after alleged comments to referee

The charge of improper conduct, which Bircham denied, was upheld and came after Bedford Town’s Southern League Premier Central defeat at Alvechurch on 23rd November 2024 amid claims by referee Abid Hussain.

He was charged with breaching FA Rule E3 relating to his alleged misconduct of acting in an improper manner and/or using abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards the match referee

It was deemed an 'aggravated breach of Rule E3.2 as it included a reference, whether expressed or implied, to race and/or ethnic origin and/or colour.

Bircham does have the right to appeal but it seems unlikely and the ban is for competitive games only so the forthcoming pre-season friendlies will not count as the Eagles prepare to play in the National League North after two successive promotions..

“We are disappointed, but it is what it is and we will just get on with it and we are looking forward to the new season,” said chairman Adrian Brown.

The allegations came following the game, when Hussain approached Bircham in the process of looking for the Bedford Town secretary to hand a misconduct form to.

As Hussain approached, he alleges that Bircham stated, “Here he is! Lost the election!”

Hussain alleges this was a clear reference to the former Conservative Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, a claim that Bircham denied, and that the comment had been made solely because of the colour of Hussain's skin.

Later it is alleged that Bircham said to assistant referee Cameron Danks ‘Look at him, he’s fuming because he lost the election’.

Danks further alleged that Bircham stated that following being challenged by Hussain, Bircham had stated ‘I don’t know what you are talking about, you look nothing like Boris Johnson’.

Bircham accepted that he had made some of the comments but said they had been taken out of context.

Bircham claims that the comments came after a discussion between the two during the game about a free-kick decision, in which Bircham said, “Look give me a straight answer, you know, you’ve come over, you’re acting like a politician here.

“Give me a straight answer. I can’t get a yes or no out of you.”

When some Bedford Town players stepped in to challenge the decision, Bircham claimed he had decided to diffuse the situation by saying, “Listen boys, being a politician, he’s gone from losing an election to now refereeing in the space of three months, give him a break”.

Hussain took this to be a direct reference to Rishi Sunak, in which the independent FA panel agreed.

In respect of the later comments Danks and Hussain, Bircham said that he felt upset that ‘he’s took it that way… and I wanted to go and explain ‘Look, it’s got nothing to do with that’’.

‘I think it was about having offence to being a lookalkie. And I was like, ‘Well, he looks like someone, I look like someone’, that’s not an offence in itself'.

Hussain claims to have been “humiliated” as the Bedford players laughed at their manager’s comments in the clubhouse after the game.

“I walked next door into the other bar area to find the Bedford Town secretary,” said Hussain.

“The Bedford Town players and manager were stood close to the bar. As I approached the manager, who I know to be Lee Bircham, he said to me, “Here he is, lost the election!

“At this point all the players started laughing, which was humiliating for me, but I was in shock that the manager of a football club would make such a comment,” added Hussain.

Bedford Town owner Jon Taylor said: “I didn’t think that Lee’s comments toward the referee were offensive and on reflection I feel exactly the same now. The comments were said in jest, because the referee was not answering the question.”

However, a lot of the written statements provided were “unable to be tested” by the three-person panel, and judged to be “of limited assistance” in reaching the final decision.

The punishment for an “aggravated breach” of Rule E3.1 is a ban between six and 12 matches, with the panel choosing nine matches as Bircham is “an experienced manager in a position of authority” and that he “used the words in the presence of several others”.​​​​​​​