Referees wore PFA anti-abuse t-shirts in the Premier League in April 2019
A 2019 campaign in professional football saw referees wearing anti-abuse t-shirts before matches

The topic of referee abuse in grassroots football has been a topic of discussion this week.

It's one that thousands of radio and website users have engaged with, getting in touch to share their experience as referees or as the parents of young officials in the game.

Some of the stories you have told have been frightening. You can either quit or push for change.

There are three stories in the park.

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A father and daughter are both referees in the city. They have been on the job for a long time. Andrew talked to the radio station.

My experiences have ranged from positive to negative. If I had been in another country, I would have been shot or stabbed. Things have just got out of hand after these after local games.

We stopped refereeing children's games because of the parents. The kids are great, but the parents are trying to live their failed dreams through them.

I'm not sure if it's gotten worse, but it's highlighted more now.

People don't like referee's decisions but they are highlighted more because there is more coverage on TV. Everything is related to what they've seen on TV. You'll always get a player to say that the Spurs game wasn't a foul or that they didn't give a penalty.

I used to work as a doorman and I can look after myself. I will stay in the game as a referee until I can no longer do it. I don't think they will ever force me out of my house.

I think body cameras will deter some people, but others will probably play up to the camera.

  • Bodycam trial for grassroots referees planned for 2023, FA says
Abbie Taylor - pictured in 2012 as a 19-year-old - started refereeing when she was 16
Abbie Taylor - pictured here in 2012 as a 19-year-old - started out in the Solihull & District Oakbourne league

A lot of people know that she's my daughter and so they start off by giving her some respect but she's more than capable of looking after herself.

I don't know if she's being out there. She knows how to deal with things. Is it something that upsets her? I believe it did in her younger days, but now she is hardened to it. She knows how to handle it.

She said that she was treated differently because she was female. She handles things that teams say about her that are sexist well, and you get players who don't swear in front of her, because she's a woman. I face more physical threats from men than from women.

I didn't know what the punishment was after I reported the threat of shooting to the league and the FA.

I am aware of referees who have been attacked and have stopped refereeing. I think a lot of referees feel like they're not supported by the game.

We will never be beaten and I will never allow them to do that.

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Sam Midwood is a referee. He has been a referee for 10 years.

Sam Midwood
Sam Midwood

I have experienced difficulty and abuse in the past. It's been more prevalent in the last five years but I hadn't seen it before.

There was a men's game on a Sunday and I issued a yellow card. A player came up to me and told me to stop making the game about me. He was right in my face when I was 25 years old. When a player is aggressive after the game, they don't apologize for it.

I've been under the cosh and feel pressured, but I keep pushing on because I want to help it improve and I love doing it.

It made me want to stamp it out.

If you back down, it only allows them to win.

I made a change. I speak with the players before each game to make sure they know that I am here to referee, and to make sure nothing bad happens. That appears to have made a difference for me.

Two of my brothers play football at the weekends. When a person hits their thirties or forties, they're not going to change their approach no matter how much you try.

The professional game is partially to blame. Once a child sees the referee surrounded, that's when they think of the crowding of the referee.

Football brings people from all walks of life together. In social situations I'm more anxious than normal but on the pitch I have no choice. It's me against 22 angry men and I don't have any friends to back me up.

I have a thicker skin from it and I have improved my life from it.

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He was a semi- professional referee. He mentors young refs.

If a young referee has a problem at a match, the league will ring me up and ask if I will go and speak to the referee, find out what happened, and be there.

I went to one a few weeks ago and I thought it was terrible. A person had already served a 180-day ban when the referee was 16 years old.

He came across to shake the referee's hand, but wouldn't let go because he wasn't allowed to do that anyways. The referee stopped the game and then started again, but the parents were not happy with him.

When I was a referee, the league called me and asked me to speak to a young boy and give him an arm around his shoulder to boost his confidence.

You had trouble in men's games but your reputation went before you. I knew how they would respond to me.

It was never like it is now. It is worse than before.

I believe it was his fourth or fifth game. Young people don't want to referee anymore because they're never going to get their confidence back after two or three games.

There's a lot of football on TV. The way the professional players get away with a lot of things is that the coaches are running up and down the touchline questioning referees.

It's coming down to grassroots or semi-professional football because there's football on every night of the week and if people are at home watching their team, their manager is running up and down the touchline. The professional game is to blame for that.

To ban them from football for five years would teach them a lesson, even if it's just for 180 days.