Two weeks ago,I was asked by my sons football coach to referee the under 9's match.( as a favour) when I blew for full time, both the opposition coaches, and some parents, made a bee line to me, berating that I hadn't played enough time added on. I actually thought it was going to get seriously out of hand. I didn't even keep the time. Another parent was using a stopwatch on the sidelines. It was Under 9's football FFS.
....and there lies the problem. Under 9's should just play for fun and not even worry about the scoreline. Only when you get to 14 and over should anyone worry about scorelines. Learn your basics first. But yes a truely shocking state of affairs but sadly no real surprise.
Totally disagree about not caring about the score, they should play to win and learn to be competitive but be taught manners and respect at the same time, parents who have a go at refs at any age group should be told were to go. But on the topic of the thread, absolutely horrific! Hard to believe this can happen at any level let alone kids leagues!
Fair enough, but my view point is the reason this happens. Parents need to get a grip or be banned from the sidelines. Kids should not have the pressure of scorelines until 14 years of age. No reason at all for it. imo
I heard a Dutch journalist being interviewed about this on 5 Live last night, they've had a few incidents, a 33 year old's just been sent to prison for beating someone up on the pitch.
The reason this happens is because those kids are thugs, It comes down to parenting and lack of education, but let's put this event aside (I think we can agree it's an extreme situation). If kids are taught to respect and more importantly if parents are taught the same since kids copy their parents, then there's no reason games can't be competitive at a young age and still be played in a respectful way.
I stopped reffing years ago because of the lack of respect shown to someone who is trying their best and giving their time. In my opinion, it comes down from the lack of respect shown by the professional football's and the media bashing the officials get every week.
I've seen people threaten the refs in car parks after our matches back when i used to play as a kid in the Hull Boys League. The irony was he was a referee himself, so should have known better.
A simple complaint from you could result in a fine for both clubs and I recommend you make it, assuming you are registered with the FA. Having said that, the Referee is the sole timekeeper under FA laws from memory.
I ran a boys team for eight years and believe me it is the parents that set the standards. I have had angry parents screaming at me from both the opposition and our own side. A lot comes from parents who have a son who is a reasonable player and they demand he plays every game, argues every tackle and off side decision. And god help the guys who used to volunteer to ref, they were castigated, most of the times wrongly. The boys watched their parents being abusive and thought it ok to act in the same way.
The club representatives e.g. managers are obliged to control their fans if they don't want their club to be fined. The managers should have had a word. It might sound like a bit unreasonable to expect the managers to get involved to your or me, but that is what the club expects them to do.
Never used to happen in my day. My old man occasionally came to watch me play as a kid. He hated football, didn't understand the offside rule, and if anyone smacked me he used to piss himself laughing
Agree kids should be taught to play then worry about results when they're older. Until F.A, U.E.F.A & F.I.F.A change the rules rearding respect, things will only get worse, the F.A trialed a rule in the L.D.V trophy where if you showed dissent then the free-kick would move ten yard forward and you'd get booked, all the refs said it worked a treat yet nothing came of it. I'd propose a similar rule to Rugby Union, if you speak out of turn to the ref you'll get sin binned or the play will move ten yards or both will happen. Too often on T.V we see refs been surrounded and screamed at by players yet the ref seems to have little power to stop it.
My parents never came to see me or ourkid play or do anything for school. But your quote about your old man had me in stitches !
And there lies the issue with almost everything to do with refereeing in football. There are all sorts of different initiatives and new principles which we introduce and 'trial' to stop various problems with the game. Respect os just one issue, there are loads of offences on the pitch which always go un-noticed because the ref simply can't do it all himself. BUT that's always as far as it goes, we never follow through with these things and make sure the problem is stopped completely. Like the 5th and 6th officials at either end, they were used at the Euros but clearly told not to actually do anything, so the shirt-pulling at every set piece inevitably continued. Fact is, the authorities just don't care enough about this stuff. I think they must like the constant debating of decisions in the media because it generates interest and talking points. Sadly, the talking points are about refereeing and injustice as often as they are about actual football. In my experience, referees at youth level don't do a bad job, and it's usually offside calls where they don't have a linesman that get everyone worked up. And since our football culture is to just boot it and chase, those calls are happening every couple of minutes.
My dad was the same never came to watch me play and had very little interest in Football. He did piss me off once I got 2 tickets for a FA cup game when City played Everton in the 60's, and he pushed me to take him rather than my pal. We got there in the North stand behind the goal, and he didn't like the crush of the crowd and went home after the first 10 minutes.
I didn't even bother trying to get my dad to a city match John. He only used to watch me play when he drove me to matches
