A&H

Very Interesting article

The Referee Store
Hopefully, such an article in a superior national newspaper may get some action at the FA.
There is a chance some of them will actually read this newspaper :alien:

The RESPECT needs a "shot in the arm" because it is failing. I don't think stronger punishments by the league / FA is the method but more oversight at matches and perhaps MORE publishments at low levels, including point deductions for off-field misconduct rather than just fines/suspensions. This would certainly make managers & players be more interested. So we win and lose 5 points...

Let the leagues also charge the clubs and fine them points..... currently league are barred by the double-jeopardy rule - cannot be charged with the same offence twice. If the FA charge them, leagues cannot.
 
Hopefully, such an article in a superior national newspaper may get some action at the FA.
There is a chance some of them will actually read this newspaper :alien:

The RESPECT needs a "shot in the arm" because it is failing. I don't think stronger punishments by the league / FA is the method but more oversight at matches and perhaps MORE publishments at low levels, including point deductions for off-field misconduct rather than just fines/suspensions. This would certainly make managers & players be more interested. So we win and lose 5 points...

Let the leagues also charge the clubs and fine them points..... currently league are barred by the double-jeopardy rule - cannot be charged with the same offence twice. If the FA charge them, leagues cannot.

Couldn't agree more, I am on the committee of my local Sunday League and so often we find our hands tied completely and then the clubs think we do nothing, where as more often than not we cant as opposed to wont!!
 
Sad, but it's not really football's problem. By that I mean that yob/loutish behaviour towards referees isn't something that football can tackle itself pers se.
Liberal attitudes throughout society over the last few decades have resulted in a lack of respect for authority in many other areas. Schools, the Armed Forces, for the police - it's eveywhere you look. There's no discipline any more. It's even illegal for you to give your kids a slap these days.
Society and therefore football, reaps what it sows..... :(
 
Another easy and clichéd piece of journalism which simply regurgitates what we all know already. I've read almost identical articles before and, no doubt, will again. The type of behaviour we see around football isn't tolerated in any other area of society. The media should be more active in naming and shaming the perpetrators of these acts then challenging the leagues, associations and authorities to do something serious and hard hitting about it.

Sad, but it's not really football's problem. By that I mean that yob/loutish behaviour towards referees isn't something that football can tackle itself pers se.

I can only agree with this up to a point. Other areas of society have much stronger policies for dealing with unacceptable behaviour. Misbehave in the workplace, public buildings, restaurant or even in a bar and, chances are, you're much more likely to be dealt with and receive a much heavier sanction than you would at a football match. One of the reasons we have so much bad behaviour in football is the consequences are minimal.

Couldn't agree more, I am on the committee of my local Sunday League and so often we find our hands tied completely and then the clubs think we do nothing, where as more often than not we cant as opposed to wont!!

Intriguing comment Cheshire Ref - care to elaborate?
 
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Couldn't agree more, I am on the committee of my local Sunday League and so often we find our hands tied completely and then the clubs think we do nothing, where as more often than not we cant as opposed to wont!!

I am on our Saturday committee, and we pride ourselves on being a well-run league. With RESPECT we have to sit on our hands, it is f*****g annoying but that is the price we pay.

But at junior football, more power to deduct points has to be given. The yobs are sometimes the best footballers, so the managers will not drop them as they are needed to win matches. If their behaviour more directly affected their results, then at least the managers and club officials may deal with it more.

One suggestion would be for all clubs to have a "match delegate" whose responsibility to attend other matches within their league. They have to report on the RESPECT behaviour of the club they attend (which will not be their own) to the league. Based on these reports, the committee could assess the required actions. Cash rewards for the best behaved, points deductions for the worst.

Another - all clubs would have to deposit a "good behaviour bond" with the league. If twenty teams, top gains 90% more bottom loses 90% of the bond. similar adjustments across the whole of the RESPECT league so that 10th & 11th gain / loss nothing. No money raising but at least the worst teams lose out.

Inventive publishments are needed for these k**bs.
 
Intriguing comment Cheshire Ref - care to elaborate?

Sure, if an incident is dealt with by the County then it is seen a dealt with, we as a league cannot then over rule the County and deal with the player. You then get player, clubs, managers, secretaries thinking that we are a soft touch because we haven't "done anything".
 
Another easy and clichéd piece of journalism which simply regurgitates what we all know already. I've read almost identical articles before and, no doubt, will again. The type of behaviour we see around football isn't tolerated in any other area of society. The media should be more active in naming and shaming the perpetrators of these acts then challenging the leagues, associations and authorities to do something serious and hard hitting about it.
there was some interesting debate on the radio the other day about the behaviour of some of the "fans" attending the europa league game between man utd and liverpool, its a total disgrace, but its the same type of person (for me) involved in the violence and abhorrent chanting / banners that we find deposited around our sunday leagues, and/or kids games as parents....the trouble is these people reproduce and teach their kids that its ok to behave like that . the upshot of the discussions seemed to be that it is a case of the minority spoiling it for the true fans, so as you say @OIREF! we should be able to remove this type of person from the game entirely, with refs, managers, local leagues, the FA, club stewards and the police in some cases all working together RESPECT doesnt appear to be doing it, maybe it needs tweaking a bit
 
@OIREF! we should be able to remove this type of person from the game entirely, with refs, managers, local leagues, the FA, club stewards and the police in some cases all working together RESPECT doesnt appear to be doing it, maybe it needs tweaking a bit

They tried this in the mid-80's, when Ted Crocker (FA Sec) at the time allegedly said to Mrs Thatcher they "we don't want your hooligans in our stadium". That lead to the Spectator registration scheme, no drinking at football matches, etc, et, etc.

We cannot reform society on this forum (though I am sure @Ross would like us too!), we can only deal with football at local leagues level.
 
They tried this in the mid-80's, when Ted Crocker (FA Sec) at the time allegedly said to Mrs Thatcher they "we don't want your hooligans in our stadium". That lead to the Spectator registration scheme, no drinking at football matches, etc, et, etc.

We cannot reform society on this forum (though I am sure @Ross would like us too!), we can only deal with football at local leagues level.
agreed its a much much bigger problem, and football just happens to be stuck in the middle of it !
 
I say this with the greatest of trepidation, but I fear that one day a referee will be killed following violence inflicted upon him/her by a player or club official. Action needs taking now, and not punitive action either. Our match officials need protecting from violence.
 
It's too easy to blame it on society in general. Sports like rugby league and horse racing which attract a similar cross section of society to football don't have these problems. We have to face up to the fact that people behave badly in a football environment and be prepared to do something about it.
 
To be honest, I think that some of this would be solved if where possible, there was a team of referees at every level even at youth football. One, you are not making decisions on your own. Two there aren't club linesman so it is all done neutrally. And three, if something does kick off, there is more support for you as the referee. I'm not a shouting and swearing person or a parent but if I was a parent and I knew that there were three referees there who are in a position of power and happy to write to the FA if needed, I'm not going to be swearing as much. I do agree though, it does need to be cut down on. In Dorset, it isn't that bad but there have been a couple on things recently.
 
There are not enough referees at grassroots level as it is, so while it would be nice if officials were in teams, but it will not happen.
 
We have the tools to deal with 95% of the abuse we recieve.
We don't do it.
If you're not prepared to issue the dissent cautions, the OFFINABUS red cards, send managers/spectators from the VOTFOP and eventually abandon then please hang up the whistle, you're not helping.
Together we literally could ERADICATE this problem in a month.
 
We have the tools to deal with 95% of the abuse we recieve.
We don't do it.
If you're not prepared to issue the dissent cautions, the OFFINABUS red cards, send managers/spectators from the VOTFOP and eventually abandon then please hang up the whistle, you're not helping.
Together we literally could ERADICATE this problem in a month.

I'm not sure we could eradicate the problem inside a month, but I agree with you in principle - the deterrent factor for potential miscreants can only come from having repeated exerience of being dealt with in an appropriate disciplinary manner by every referee they encounter. :cool:
 
We have the tools to deal with 95% of the abuse we recieve.
We don't do it.
If you're not prepared to issue the dissent cautions, the OFFINABUS red cards, send managers/spectators from the VOTFOP and eventually abandon then please hang up the whistle, you're not helping.
Together we literally could ERADICATE this problem in a month.

Whilst I agree with you up to a point, referees alone cannot eradicate this problem. It needs an organised, uniform and coherent response led by us grassroots referees and PROPERLY backed up by the CFA's.

ALL referees need to deal with dissent/OFFINABUS/coach and spectator misconduct properly, even if that means five red cards a game. The CFA's then need to start backing up the referees by doing away with the pathetic personal hearing approach (the same process that concluded I had not been assaulted) and dishing out appropriate punishments instead of pandering to the clubs.

With a true zero tolerance approach, we could get our game back!
 
Whilst I agree with you up to a point, referees alone cannot eradicate this problem. It needs an organised, uniform and coherent response led by us grassroots referees and PROPERLY backed up by the CFA's.

ALL referees need to deal with dissent/OFFINABUS/coach and spectator misconduct properly, even if that means five red cards a game. The CFA's then need to start backing up the referees by doing away with the pathetic personal hearing approach (the same process that concluded I had not been assaulted) and dishing out appropriate punishments instead of pandering to the clubs.

With a true zero tolerance approach, we could get our game back!

That's why I said 95% ;)
 
There are not enough referees at grassroots level as it is, so while it would be nice if officials were in teams, but it will not happen.

To be fair, as the article states, grassroots football is well covered, they quote 80% and "my" youth league has 100% coverage of 11 a side football and its the 4th largest in the country (apparently).

Agree though, 3 officials for all games isn't going to work - even if there were enough "bodies" clubs couldn't afford them in any case.
 
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