By Harrison Kidd
THE shortage of referees at grassroots level in football is in the midst of its biggest ever crisis.
That’s the stark warning from one south Wales-based volunteer official, who says retaining those brave enough to have a go with the whistle is at the root of a problem which is “worse than ever”.
Mark Bowen is a referee who has had two spells in the middle, one in Middlesex while living in London and working for British Airways, and one in south Wales, where he currently oversees matches every weekend.
He spoke out after referee charity Ref Support UK revealed more than 7,000 officials are stepping down annually.
If this drop is allowed to continue this could lead to football being destroyed in some parts of the country.
“It’s the biggest crisis of availability for referees in grassroots football that I’ve known,” said Mark.
“You can see that through the many posts on social media, there are more appeals for referees than for teams to play against.
“There are two main factors when recruiting referees, one is recruiting the referees in the first place and the other is retaining what you’ve got. I think the latter is the main problem.”
Football, especially at community level, has sadly become notorious for abuse towards referees.
This is why there has been a campaign called No Ref No Game created by Team Grassroots, designed to stop such abuse.
Mark added: “The consensus is the abuse that referees get per game is the key reason why there is a problem in retaining these referees.
“There’s abuse that referees get in some games and you think that abuse would never happen in any other walk of life. You wouldn’t put up with it in an office or in any other place of work. It’s a problem in football.”
However, Mark also stated there are benefits to be gained from being a referee.
“Personally, I’m a fitter person because I referee. It’s helped me make changes to my personal life, for example in terms of my diet, to make me be a better referee.” he stated.
“You feel great satisfaction coming off the pitch knowing you’ve made a difference in the game.
“Also, while you’re not going to become a millionaire being a referee, you can earn some good pocket money.
“I would recommend it to someone who is thinking about becoming a referee.”