By Edd Paul – @Edd93Paul
An 18-year-old amateur referee has set up a campaign calling on officials across the country to boycott grassroots games in protest at the way they’re treated.
Teenager Ryan Hampson’s call to arms is set to see 2,000 referees strike from officiating this weekend.
Grassroots refs are subject to some downright disgusting treatment from amateur footballers, and talking to the BBC, Hampson described some of the abuse he’s had to deal with.
[quote]”At times it has been awful. I have been headbutted, I’ve been spat at and I’ve been punched, just to name a few things that have happened.
“I had a match where one team was awful all game and it got to a point where I had to be escorted off the pitch by the 11 players on the other team.
“They had to get in a circle and escort me physically, because the other team wouldn’t let me go.”[/quote]
The youngster, who referees in the Manchester area, claims local FA branches don’t do enough to help out officials when reporting these sort of incidents.[quote]”Another game, when I got hit, the other manager was there and gave the same version of events as me and it got ‘not proven’. I don’t know how.
“I put all my hope in the FA really.”[/quote]
Putting all your hope in the FA to actually do something constructive is akin to putting all your faith in a gorilla finding the cure for cancer. You’re better off having a crack yourself, something Hampson is doing with his campaign.
For what it’s worth, the FA have met with Hampson to discuss his concerns, while also appointing a dedicated campaign manager for their Respect campaign. With 4,000 referees failing to re-register each season, hopefully a renewed focus from the FA, partnered with Hampson’s efforts, can halt this number from growing ever larger.
However, a lot of the initiative has to fall on us: the players. It doesn’t matter if you feel strongly about that missed offside, that disallowed goal or that blatant foul by the opposition’s prick of a left-back that went unpunished. None of that is an excuse to abuse the man in black.
Amateur referees willingly give up their time and effort so we can all play the game we love. We, therefore, have a duty not to treat them like shit.
