Never posted this incident at the time as I'd filed an EA and was awaiting outcome.
In summary, U15s semi-final. Player X receives a second yellow card late in the game (first one for handbags alongside an opposition player) for calling me a "f***ing joke" after I awarded a penalty against his side which was converted to make it 3-3. Before I've even had time to issue the RC, he's calling me a "c*nt", "bald c*nt", "f*cking c*nt" and multiple variations of those phrases.
After FT, I'm confronted on the pitch by his mother too - not aggressively, but certainly assertively - accusing me of screaming at her kid (which I didn't do - before he called me a "f*cking joke" he'd been trying to complain about the decision and I was ignoring him until he shouted "oi, I'm trying to speak to you" at which point I said loudly - so his coach could hear as we were on the opposite side away from the benches - "Do not speak to me like that" before walking away again). All of this goes in EA and I write separately to the league and CFA to effectively self-refer for a potential safeguarding concern given the mother's accusation. Nothing came from that self-referral and no safeguarding complaint was ever made.
A personal hearing was scheduled which was cancelled at short notice and was then rescheduled before a late change of plea. I finally got the result through on Friday and he's received a one-match suspension. For repeatedly calling me a c*nt. Having already been sent off. Having finally accepted the charge the day before the hearing. Even if he had the mitigation of being neuro-divergent (as a minor I obviously don't know what mitigation he put forward, but from his reaction to the RC I suspect he was), there are enough aggravating features for more than the minimum.
On the one hand I really don't care (and he's probably right...
) but on the other it really goes to show how much the FA - or their Disciplinary Panels at least - are part of the problem when it comes to player behaviour, and it's no wonder it feels like it's getting worse and not better. We're fighting an uphill battle on our own...
In summary, U15s semi-final. Player X receives a second yellow card late in the game (first one for handbags alongside an opposition player) for calling me a "f***ing joke" after I awarded a penalty against his side which was converted to make it 3-3. Before I've even had time to issue the RC, he's calling me a "c*nt", "bald c*nt", "f*cking c*nt" and multiple variations of those phrases.
After FT, I'm confronted on the pitch by his mother too - not aggressively, but certainly assertively - accusing me of screaming at her kid (which I didn't do - before he called me a "f*cking joke" he'd been trying to complain about the decision and I was ignoring him until he shouted "oi, I'm trying to speak to you" at which point I said loudly - so his coach could hear as we were on the opposite side away from the benches - "Do not speak to me like that" before walking away again). All of this goes in EA and I write separately to the league and CFA to effectively self-refer for a potential safeguarding concern given the mother's accusation. Nothing came from that self-referral and no safeguarding complaint was ever made.
A personal hearing was scheduled which was cancelled at short notice and was then rescheduled before a late change of plea. I finally got the result through on Friday and he's received a one-match suspension. For repeatedly calling me a c*nt. Having already been sent off. Having finally accepted the charge the day before the hearing. Even if he had the mitigation of being neuro-divergent (as a minor I obviously don't know what mitigation he put forward, but from his reaction to the RC I suspect he was), there are enough aggravating features for more than the minimum.
On the one hand I really don't care (and he's probably right...
) but on the other it really goes to show how much the FA - or their Disciplinary Panels at least - are part of the problem when it comes to player behaviour, and it's no wonder it feels like it's getting worse and not better. We're fighting an uphill battle on our own...
