A FORMER Scottish referee has backed calls for an inquiry into the touchline behaviour of managers and warned that abuse in high-profile matches can lead to copycat incidents at a lower level and drive match officials out of football.
Ref Support UK chief executive Martin Cassidy this week condemned Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and his Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola for their conduct in the Premier League match at Anfield on Sunday.
The Football Association is reviewing flashpoints in a game which was watched live by millions around the United Kingdom on Sky Sports – but Cassidy wants to see an in-depth investigation into the treatment which referees are subjected to carried out by the governing body.
His appeal came the week after the FA disciplinary reports for the 2021/22 season showed that they had banned 380 players and coaches for attacking or threatening referees in the grassroots game.
Steve Conroy - who took charge of matches in this country for 19 years, latterly at Premiership level, and can now be heard regularly giving his opinions on the Get Involved Referee Podcast – was pleased to hear Cassidy speaking out.
He recalled how he was told he would be slashed when he was at an under-13 match when he was starting out and stated the actions of leading managers can have serious repercussions in amateur and youth football.
“Anybody that raises this issue helps referees,” he said. “It has gone on forever and nobody has taken any serious action against it at all. It is more rife in the lower levels of football – boys, youth, all the rest of it.
“Personally, I was promised a slashing at an under-13 game when I was coming through the ranks. There is nobody there to help you, it is shocking. It has always gone on and it is appalling.
“I can remember one game in Drumchapel. You had to walk about a mile between the pitch and the changing rooms. The pitch was in the middle of high rise flats. I honestly had planned my escape route. Thankfully, nothing happened.
“But people are genuinely quite scared for their own safety at times and I know of people who have left refereeing because of safety concerns. It needs to be raised at every opportunity.”
Conroy believes it is far easier for Willie Collum, Steve McLean or David Dickinson to officiate at an Old Firm match than it is for a aspiring referee to do so at youth level and urged governing bodies to do more to address safety issues and keep referees involved in the sport.
“If you do a Celtic v Rangers game you have got hundreds of security guards, hundreds of police,” he said. “You are fine. But doing a game on the pitches in High Blantyre, say, and you are totally on your own.
“But it is a problem in the senior leagues as well. You saw Jurgen Klopp scream in the face of Anthony Taylor during Liverpool’s game with Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.
“Fair play to Jurgen Klopp for coming out and apologising afterwards – and to Ian McCall (the Partick Thistle manager) who did the same thing the other week as well. But they were wrong in the first instance and the damage is done. It is not the first time he has done it. And he is not the only one.
“It sets a precedent, including for the players. If the boss, the leader of the organisation, deems it fit to be right in the face of a match official, to show complete disrespect for the referee, his authority and for his own safety. If players, supporters and parents see that they think it’s okay for them to do that.
“You have to start somewhere so pick the low hanging fruit and deal with people in the junior ranks. That is where assaults are more likely and where referees safety is more at risk. They don’t have stewards, they don’t have police. I don’t think the authorities have taken the problem seriously enough or taken enough action on it.”
Steve Conroy appears on the Get Involved Referee podcast at https://ten10podcasts.com/get-involved-referee/
