You probably saw in the national press where former England centre-forward, Chris Sutton stormed onto the pitch during a under 14 boys’ match in which his son was playing and verbally abused the schoolboy referee.
Apparently the young referee awarded a penalty after a bad foul on Sutton’s son and the ex Blackburn, Chelsea and Celtic star ran on to demand that the player be sent off. He had to be persuaded to leave the field after turning the air blue in front of the boys and the other parents.
This is, of course, the very behaviour that the FA Respect Campaign is aimed at. But it is not only ex-professional footballers who think they know better than the referee. Generally speaking there is very little trouble from players of school age, it is the parents and coaches who are the problem.
One of our junior referees was physically assaulted by a coach in his very first game. That would be enough to put most people off but I’m pleased to say he has carried on. One candidate on our latest referees’ course, who is still playing in local youth football, told us how parents had fought amongst themselves. The club banned all parents from the following game. Pity it wasn’t all season, said the young player/trainee referee.
I sometimes feel sorry for junior team coaches, with dads shouting advice to their own sons. Imagine every player getting their own piece of advice often different to what the coach is trying to do. On the other hand, in recent years I have on two occasions when refereeing youth cup games, told coaches that they should limit their comments to instructions to their players. They are seen as a role model and shouting criticism at every decision that goes against their team only leads young people to think it is a perfectly legitimate behaviour. In both cases the coaches kept quiet for the rest of the game and one apologised to me after the match.
The FA has spent a lot of money on the Respect Campaign. You may have seen the film featuring Ray Winstone, in which he plays two parts, a ranting touchline coach and an enforcer who pulls him into line. The fact is we are loosing 7000 referees a year and this season saw the lowest number of registered, qualified referees ever. Locally in junior leagues, I’m told the campaign is working, partly due to parents being kept behind a roped off area some yards from the touch line. Certainly when I refereed a youth cup tie earlier in the year, the home club painted a white line, which the parents stood behind and, although the game was settled with the last kick of the game, there was no bad behaviour from spectators.
Of course, many people including myself, felt the FA started at the wrong end. It is at the top level where the worst player and coach behaviour is experienced. They took the point and the campaign this year was aimed also at professional football with the emphasis of captains being given responsibility of controlling their own players.
How far this has been wrecked by the appalling behaviour of the Chelsea players after their Champions League semi-final has yet to be seen. Their captain John Terry, instead of attempting to control his team mates, actually led the harassment of the Norwegian referee. A great deal will depend on the punishment that is imposed on them. The club itself does not seem particularly penitent. All football needs to know that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated to stop it escalating.
Dick Sawdon Smith
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© R Sawdon Smith 2009