A refereeing colleague, Richard Highfield, has sent me a cutting from the
Bristol Evening Post, which mirrors the concerns that referees in Reading have been expressing.
Steve Densley, an experienced referee, said that he feared for the future of local football in Bristol, because of the decline of behaviour by players that is forcing referees to give up the game. Densley is also Fixtures Secretary of the Bristol Sunday League and he is reported as saying ‘There is a generally aggressive attitude towards officials and most decisions are disputed by players who should know better.
There are not enough young referees coming through to replace the present crop of senior officials when they retire.’ But he went on to say, ‘Playing standards have dropped at local levels and there is a general apathy, with many Saturday and Sunday clubs struggling to raise a team’.
I attended a consultative meeting held by
the Berks and Bucks FA last week with an agenda from the FA, to which representatives from all sides of football were invited.
One of the problems we were asked to consider, was the fact that local 11-a-side Saturday and Sunday football is in decline because players from youth football are not coming through to the adult game. Perhaps this aggressive behaviour that Steve
Densley mentioned, fuelled by bad language, is not only deterring referees but also young players from carrying on playing.
Very often when I talk to refereeing colleagues, they say that foul language is a matter of personal tolerance. I can’t accept that. I remember a player saying when I pulled him up, ‘Come on ref, it’s a game of football, you’ve got to expect some swearing.’ My reply was that it was a game of football played under the Laws of the Game, which
say that offensive language is a sending-off offence, and that
I find the continual use of the F-word offensive as do many of the spectators. He didn’t swear again.
I got an e-mail last season from a Mr John
Smith who, fed up with the language being shouted unchecked on local parks, decided to go and watch Reading Town. He sent me a copy of the
e-mail he sent to them. As he was reading the regulations in the programme, which said ‘the club reserves the right to evict anyone using foul and abusive language’, he heard a torrent of foul language, only it was coming from the players. They were screaming at each other, he said, and it lasted all the game without any action from the referee. He suggested to Reading Town that they take a lead and discipline its players.
I don’t know if he ever got a reply but he might like to know that one local club has taken action against the use of bad language. Roddy Slater told in the
Evening Post website www.getreading.co.uk, how when he took over as Henley Town manager, he warned the players that they must treat team-mates and officials with respect and courtesy. He implemented a fine system for anyone swearing at training or in the clubhouse.
Initially it was laughed at it but it has become an integral part of training and extends to the pitch on match days. Like everyone, he said, he gets frustrated when a decision goes against you but we must show the respect to officials and allow them to do their job. He believes that if all players and officials take this type of action they will enjoy the game more. ‘Play hard; play to win,’ says Roddy, ‘but most of all enjoy yourself.’
I couldn’t agree more. If we could only take this verbal aggression out of the game, young players might feel like making the transition from youth football and the 11-a-side game may start to grow again. At least, referees and spectators would enjoy it more.
Dick Sawdon Smith
Back
To Contents
© R Sawdon Smith 2008