WHY LET FACTS GET IN THE WAY?

What is Mike Riley's full record when refereeing Man United matches?"

With Mike Riley seemingly giving at least one penalty every time he sets foot inside Old Trafford, he was accused of pro-Manchester United bias long before his erratic performance in the Arsenal game ten days ago. But a leaf through the record books shows that United's record in matches that Riley has refereed is surprisingly modest.

Going back to the 1997-98 season, Riley has refereed 23 United games in all competitions. In that time, their record is: W13 D3 L7. Of more interest to the conspiracy theorists, however, is the fact that he has given 12 penalties for United in that time, but only three against them. And he has sent off five of United's opponents, while booking 44, as opposed to dismissing two United players - Roy Keane for raking his studs down Gustavo Poyet's leg in the 2000-01 Charity Shield, and Luke Chadwick for a professional foul at home to Liverpool in the same season - while booking 36.

At Old Trafford, Riley's record is weighted more heavily in favour of United, though that is to be expected given that they dominate more games at home. United's record is: P14 W10 D1 L3, with ten penalties for United and one against (again Liverpool were the beneficiaries, this time when Gary Neville took Steven Gerrard out last season), and with three red cards and 26 bookings for United's opponents as against one and 14 for United

Yet a look at the penalties Riley has given United suggest only two were truly dubious: the one against Arsenal last week, and another in a 7-1 thrashing of West Ham in April 2000 when Nicky Butt appeared to trip over his own feet as he went round the goalkeeper Craig Forrest. Many have been pedantic-but-correct decisions: in the 2002-03 season alone, for example, when Riley gave United seven penalties in five games, Everton's Alan Stubbs and David Weir, Liverpool's Sami Hyypia and Middlesbrough's Ugo Ehiogu were all penalised for shirt-tugs.