just watched an article on BBC breakfast about grassroots referees and the violence against them.They showed a video of a ref.being chased across the pitch by spectators then being kicked and beaten up by about a dozen so called football fans.This is getting absolutely disgusting when you can’t ref a match without getting this kind of abuse.A young woman on the program who is a referee says the problem is getting worse.What the hell Is wrong with people,just go and enjoy the match.I know passions get high but there is no need for violence,especially like on that video.
Anyone that sets up a team. Should tell people that any abuse of a referee. They will no longer be involved with the club. Be it a player, parent or follower of the club. The organisers need to take responsibility. If not kick em out. Cloughy didn’t tolerate such behaviour from his players.
It's one thing screaming blue murder at them but to ACTUALLY hurt a ref (no game without one) is totally crazy!
I used to volunteer to ref for my sons football team, until they get to 11 when they pay real refs!! We were playing a team from Athersley when they were under 9s and one of the parents called me (well shouted across the pitch) a "cheating lovely person*!!!" - so all the kids could hear, this was after a running commentary of passive aggressive crap for the entire game. He was told to go and sit in his car, at which point he tried to headbutt one of the grandparents of a kid, some people are just batsh*t crazy man.
Refereed for twenty three years. As much as they moaned about referees, the biggest panic was when no referee at all turned up for their game!!!
When my son played junior football some of the parents were unbelievable, at the start of each season all parents had to sign a code of conduct which included various things one of which was to respect the referees, at almost every match within probably the first 5 mins the code of conduct had gone out of the window, all I wanted was my son to enjoy a game of football but each week ended up spoilt by the aggression shown by some parents.
Swear in front of Don Mellor. Even if you swore to yourself after a mistake etc. You were off. Once played at Scisset and one of their players swore at him at the end of the match. When asked who’d swore they all told him to F off. Cost the club a fortune if I remember rightly.
Those 'parents' who threaten and behave like that were obviously failed footballers and it kills them inside
