Eyes and ears of the Premier League

Perhaps less widely known is that the referees' assessor is accompanied to all top-flight matches by a Premier League delegate, one of whom is former Stoke City centre-half Denis Smith.

As a player famous for his no-holds-barred approach, and a manager who took charge of more than 1,000 games for York City, Sunderland, Bristol City, Oxford United and West Brom, Smith is one of the last people you might expect to take on the role of poacher-turned-gamekeeper.

But, as he explained, there is much more to his job than merely watching the referee.

"I suppose I'm that little bit of glue between the clubs and the referees," Smith told BBC Radio Stoke.

"I have lots of jobs ranging from checking that the pitch is up to standard to listening to the police briefing to trying to resolve conflict between managers and referees.

"I have to watch the game very closely because we also mark teams for fair play which then contributes to the Fair Play League."

With so many duties to perform on the day of a match, it seems that the job of a Premier League delegate is a busy one, and some recent high-profile incidents have made Smith's job all the more hectic.

"I've had an interesting month," he said. "I was at the Britannia Stadium when David Moyes got sent to the stand and then I was at Old Trafford when Rob Styles awarded the penalty against Bolton."

Interesting indeed, and Smith's accounts of these much talked about games provides a fascinating insight into life behind the scenes of a Premier League game.

Cannot play media. Sorry, this media is not available in your territory.

"David wasn't happy and was looking for an apology," said Smith.

"So I went to see [referee] Alan Wiley and told him as much. Alan asked if David planned on visiting the referee's room, because if not there could be no apology.

"I went back and got David and then acted as a mediator to make sure neither man overstepped the line. They had a sensible chat and it worked well."

Moyes has subsequently admitted a Football Association charge of improper conduct, however Smith was plunged back into the thick of the action just two weeks later at Old Trafford.

"It was [Bolton head coach] Steve Wigley who came in wanting to speak to Rob Styles. We got them together and although they didn't agree they were both able to say how they saw things.

"Rob then called me on the Monday to apologise for getting the decision wrong and to thank me for keeping a lid on things.

"We're trying to work together to make sure everyone is respected. I'm impartial, and although I am an ex-manager I think the referees appreciate I am working as much for them as for anyone else.

"Rob was man enough to admit he had made a mistake and to apologise, but my advice to him would have been to say nothing. There's plenty of people out there waiting to stitch you up."

Much has been made about the launch of the Respect campaign and whether or not it has had an affect on the behaviour on players and managers.

As a man who has been on the wrong end of a bad decision, Smith says he can sympathise with managers but says they must be aware of their responsibilities.

"Managers know they say things that they shouldn't," he said.

"I know what it's like to go into a room of journalists who want you to attack the ref and I know it can be very difficult to keep your emotions under control.

"Managers do make mistakes and I know that they do speak to referees and apologise if they say something wrong.

"What managers and referees have in common is that they are all trying to eradicate mistakes.

"You will never things perfect but you can get it is close to perfect as you can, and that's what we're trying to do."