Violence against referees is a blight on our game and number of physical assaults is alarming, says Karren Brady

WHEN Dave Bradshaw packed his kit before heading off to Platt Bridge’s ground in South Lancashire he hardly expected to return home with broken ribs, a broken nose and concussion.

You don’t need to guess that Bradshaw is a referee — and this level of attack has become all too common on the fields of amateur football.

ITV

The red card that Bradshaw had shown to a player might as well have been a free-entrance token to an A&E department at the local hospital.

Reading a case like this, the reaction is simply: Why would anyone want to be a referee?

The number of physical assaults is alarming.

A report this week put them at 380 last season and, at what appeared to be a normal weekend of football in the fourth division of the South Lancashire Counties League, there were three suspensions for threatening or violent conduct, including the attack on Bradshaw.

So bad has thuggery become in the neighbouring Merseyside Youth League that all matches were cancelled this weekend in protest at “multiple incidents of inappropriate and threatening behaviour” towards officials.

There are more than 100 teams in the league and officials fear a boycott by referees that would end the enjoyment of football among children and teenagers.

It seems a good deal of the trouble stems from parents who, from touchlines across the country, urge on their children and blame referees in abusive language.

Players are encouraged to tackle illegally and respond in kind.

Then when a referee intervenes, wound-up boys (girls know better) curse or threaten and — in some cases — even attack the ref.

He may indeed be a poor one, probably made worse by verbal pressure from managers on and off the pitch.

But without respect for his or her authority, the game is deader than horse meat.

The Bradshaws of Britain deserve better.

Their rewards are small and while top-tier refs are reasonably well rewarded, it isn’t for money or prestige that thousands of people put up with loud criticism or even physical violence.

HOW TO GET FREE BETS ON FOOTBALL

Here’s one ref’s experience: “He headbutted me. I managed to turn my head but he made contact with the side of it. I count myself lucky I avoided the full brunt.”

Another said: “I showed him the red card for threatening and abusive behaviour. He then punched me on the left side of my face. He also threatened to meet me in the car park after the match.”

The FA have a protocol for treating offenders.

For physical contact — which can include a push, barge, or snatching cards out of a referee’s hands — the ban is 182 days.

Five years out of the game, upwards to life bans, is the punishment for assaults, with points deductions for the clubs involved.

Is enough really being done?

Karren Brady

Fines and a requirement to attend an educational course can also be applied.

In the face of death threats and damage to mental health, it is a wonder that the FA continues to keep referee recruitment at a decent level.

An FA spokesman said: “We are clear that all forms of abuse, whether on or off the pitch, are completely unacceptable and we will continue to do everything to stamp out this behaviour.”

But is enough really being done?

There is strong reluctance to involve the police to any real degree and I understand why no one in the game wishes them to be much involved.

Yet there must surely be a point where policing football is considered, although not at the level of interfering in domestic matters.

It is close, however, to the time when the copper’s whistle is blown on assaults causing serious bodily harm. Detention must be an option.

Getty

Assaults on referees are a serious problem for football[/caption]