Phil Prosser, the referee at the Brighton and Hove Albion vs Sheffield United match on Saturday, was quite simply the worst I have seen in the 12 years I have been supporting the Albion.

At every 50-50 challenge, he blew his whistle, resulting in a very disjointed match.

He awarded the first penalty against the Albion when he was a long way off the pace of the action. Match-changing decisions such as penalties should be awarded only if you can be certain the defending player was at fault.

There is no way Mr Prosser could have been sure of who was at fault.

Indeed, my view from an excellent position in the South Stand was that Michel Kuipers (Albion's goalkeeper) made contact with the ball first and any contact was made as part of him getting to the ball. There was no way anyone could have been sure he was at fault.

After giving the penalty, Mr Prosser decided he would issue Kuipers with a yellow card. Surely, as Kuipers was clearly the last line of defence, a red card should have been issued? My opinion is that

Mr Prosser was not certain enough to send Kuipers off so how could he have given a penalty in the first place?

The second penalty Mr Prosser awarded against the Albion really defies belief. Nobody from Sheffield United appealed and there was no contact between the defender and the attacker that could possibly have resulted in a penalty decision. Again, Mr Prosser was not up with play.

I spoke to many Sheffield United supporters after the match who were completely in agreement that Mr Prosser had got both decisions wrong.

The Albion are obviously struggling but I defy any club to concede to such penalties and not feel extremely hard done-by. Refereeing like this runs the risk of bringing the game into disrepute just as much as any player could.

Since the game, Mr Prosser has accused Albion fans of being racist.

While I utterly condemn any form of racism, no players from either side on Saturday confirm this outrageous claim, nor do any of the other officials at the game.

Having been a season ticket holder at the Albion for the last four seasons, I can confirm I have never heard one single racist outburst.

It could easily be seen that Mr Prosser is making up these false claims purely to distract from having had a dreadful match himself. That in itself is utterly shameful.

I can also confirm Sussex Police made a statement on Southern Counties Radio stating that none of their officers had heard any racist abuse and none had any such incidents reported to them.

At the very least, Mr Prosser should be warned about his conduct. He would also be well advised to think twice before making unsubstantiated claims of racism.

His remarks have deeply hurt me and many Albion fans and I request that he publicly apologises for his comments.

-Mark Scholfield, Soho Square, London W1