Birmingham Mail's Respect the Ref campaign boosts numbers

Aug 1 2009 by Paul Suart, Birmingham Mail

MORE Midlanders are training to become football referees thanks to a campaign to stamp out abuse led by the Birmingham Mail and Birmingham County FA.

Teenagers aged 14 to 18 are especially taking up the challenge and enrolling on FA-accredited courses following the Respect the Ref drive, while women are increasingly becoming involved with grassroots games.

The campaign was launched six years ago in response to a number of violent outbreaks against referees during amateur games across the West Midlands.

The Birmingham Mail recently told how match official Thomas Stanley had his jaw smashed during a Sunday League game in Kingstanding on January 11.

The 56-year-old needed surgery and still suffers pain following the game between Small Heath Alliance and Warren Athletic at Cooksey Lane Sports Field.

His attacker, Leon White, aged 21, from Small Heath, was jailed for a year after admitting grievous bodily harm but Dave Nixon, referee development officer with the Birmingham FA said abuse of referees was declining.

He said there were very few violent clashes between players, referees and linesman at games in the West Midlands last season, which he believes can be attributed to the impact of the campaign.

“We continue to recruit referees at a pace and the majority of (existing) referees return to register season after season,” he said.

“From the recruitment side and attendance at referee courses, the majority of candidates tend to be aged 14 to 18.