Football referees as young as 14 have been receiving abuse on the football field, as a mass exodus of people leave the profession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The number of referees in the country has fallen by a third in the last five years (33,000 to 23,000).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whilst this is in part due to the pandemic forcing referee training and recruitment sessions to be cancelled, abuse levels are feeding into this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Research from the University of Portsmouth found that 93% of referees in England had received abuse at some point in their career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kent resident Abigail Royden, 17, decided to start refereeing to give her an alternative perspective on the sport, offering a new challenge and the opportunity to get into football again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She takes charge of games ranging from Under 7s to Under 10s, but even with a younger demographic, abuse is still present in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn occasions, you do receive it [abuse] from managers, especially if they really get into the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut parents, especially will let you know, if they don\u2019t agree with the decision you\u2019ve made, and you will get shouted at from the sidelines throughout the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think the reason why young people leave refereeing is because it literally leaves you with a lower self esteem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It isn\u2019t just Kent that has seen abusive behaviour towards referees – as Sam Wightwick from Essex found out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He refereed for three matches in the county, before vowing never to do it again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decision was made after an altercation occurred during his third and final game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Wightwick had missed a handball decision – which he retrospectively admits should have been given – with five minutes of the game to go, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The opponents then went up the other end and scored, resulting in violence breaking out: \u201cI got shoved in the back\u201d, Mr Wightwick said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSomeone threw a punch at me; I dodged it, and the captain then came over to diffuse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt made me never want to do it again, put it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He doesn\u2019t see why others choose to continue refereeing after his own experience with the whistle either: \u201cWhy do they want to put themselves through it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLike forty quid to be abused basically.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Higher levels of the game aren\u2019t immune to abuse either, and some believe that it actually has a knock-on effect when those at grassroots level see inappropriate conduct on the TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ray Lewis refereed in the English top flight between 1969 to 1993, including the infamous seven minutes of the Hillsborough disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He believes that behaviour towards referees at grassroots level could stem from observing inappropriate conduct in the Premier League: \u201cUsually if there\u2019s something on a Saturday night on Match of the Day, there\u2019s someone around the country that will try the exact same thing on the Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked if there could be a solution, Mr Lewis said: \u201cIt\u2019s like most things, if you don\u2019t penalise these people where it hurts the most, i.e., in their pocket, you know, they probably will have a go at you the following week.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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