For many fans of 80s comedy, Steve Martin is already a personal hero.
The Saturday Night Live star, who later won new fans with his performances in films such as Roxanne and The Man With Two Brains, remains popular to this day.
Someone who is slightly less popular, however, is the Football League referee of the same name.
The Staffordshire official suffered the Twitter wrath of Newcastle United supporters after he sent off two Magpies players in the first half of their defeat at Nottingham Forest and handed their opponents two penalties.
Well, the wrath of some of them, at least. Others decided to take it out on the wrong Steve Martin.
https://twitter.com/YEDLlN/status/804810221436760066
@SteveMartinToGo yes, you were as bad as an Apple watch charger.
— Pilib Ó Loinn🇮🇪🏴 (@PhilipLynn4) December 2, 2016
.@SteveMartinToGo absolute shocker of a performance Steve. Reffing in the championship is not for you #nufc
— Toon Army M.I.A from MIA (@ToonArmyMIA) December 2, 2016
It’s not the first time this sort of thing has happened, of course, with Olympic gold medallist Chris Hoy famously bearing the brunt of a poor performance from his near-namesake, referee Chris Foy.
Comic genius Martin (no, not the ref) wouldn’t have had the career he has without being able to find humour in the most unlikely situations, though, and this was no exception.
https://twitter.com/SteveMartinToGo/status/804806240924815360
If anything, Martin might have won himself some new fans, or at least a few folks from the North East who are now tempted to give him a chance.
Indeed, if he fancies taking a break from acting then there are a few people who might welcome him into the refereeing game.
You are welcome to referee any game at Nottingham Forest!
— RichardM8422 (@RichardM8422) December 2, 2016
We still haven’t forgiven him for Cheaper by the Dozen 2, mind you.
Catch up with this week’s episode of Football Friday Live
