Does football/ do referees need to fight back or is it all too far gone?

[betterlatethannever]

Hi all,
I ask this knowing the answer, but maybe the older referees will give more context and explain - how and when did it become acceptable for players to say whatever they like with no real repercussions, from grassroots to the Premier League!
In the PL just today, Fernandes for Man Utd was clearly giving all sorts of abuse to the referee, verbally and physically, for a good 20 minutes with no action taken.
In my game today, after the game both sets of players seemed genuine when they shook my hand and said I was one of the best they’ve had this season, two neutral passers by went out of their way to say I had a really good game, yet during the game I had all this (and this is just what I heard!)
“Are you blind Ref?”
“Are you joking Ref?”
“That’s awful Ref.”
“F** off Ref”
“You’re s*** Ref”
“There are 2 teams here ref”
“What game are you watching Ref?”
“Sort yourself out Ref”
“Get control of the game Ref”
“That’s really bad Ref”
“Embarrassing Ref”

And this is from players who 10 seconds after the game said I was the best they’d had!!

I’m sure we’ve all just accepted this is part of the game now and white noise to a lot of us, but has it ever been thus? Was there ever a time, or was there a moment in time, that this could have all been stopped before we got to where we are today?

 

[The Gump]

Well done on the positive post-match comments.

I am officially an older ref as I'm 52, though I'm only in my fifth season as a qualified ref (did a few years as coach/parent volunteer).

I stopped doing Sunday League because a) there was always at least one player, on one team, who was a complete arse b) I dealt with some tricky situations with little support though I was never overly worried or felt threatened and c) I just reached the conclusion that I was taking it more seriously than some of the players, some of them didn't deserve my services, and the fee for Sunday league was lower in my area than the fee for U16s to U18s, with the quality in the latter often better, and the games no less challenging (for different reasons).

What I would say, though, is that all of the comments you mention represent dissent. Now, I'm not saying I'd immediately Sin Bin all of them,
but “F** off Ref” and “You’re s*** Ref” are both nailed on, immediate Sin Bins for me, and depending on circumstances might even be RC for OFFINABUS.

Of the remainder, each fall with the realms of Sin Bin territory though as first offences they would likely result in a very public rebuke and warning that it absolutely wasn't' acceptable. If there was then a repeat, it's a Sin Bin.

You just can't let comments like this go. Once you do, it's constant as you've found out.