A 17-year-old football referee has called for the use of body cameras for his protection after being at the receiving end of appalling abuse from players twice his age. Taylor Shaw described the experience of officiating amateur men’s league games as "scary" due to the "horrendous" verbal attacks he's faced.
One such example is a disturbing incident in Halifax, West Yorkshire where a player aggressively told him "f**k you" during a game. He also mentioned other instances where players made unpleasant personal remarks about him, causing him to reconsider his goal of becoming a professional referee.
Taylor believes the FA isn't doing enough to protect him and his fellow officials amidst several alleged assaults at grassroots level matches. Despite the prohibition of recording devices by the International Football Association Board's 'Laws of the Game', he argues they are necessary to deter misconduct.
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Taylor expressed his concerns, saying: "In no workplace would it be acceptable to get up in somebody’s face."
He added, "It’s not acceptable anywhere, but on a football pitch, a 40 year old male can get in the face of a 17 year old boy and nobody bats an eyelid."
Shaw also highlighted the isolation referees feel on the field: "It’s a scary and lonely place because it’s you against everybody, and that’s how people see a referee. Whereas we turn up, and we are on both teams."
He concluded with a poignant remark on the FA's policies: "The FA allows me to referee where I’m still classed as a child and there are 22 adults on that pitch.
"This is their responsibility, and they’re not taking responsibility, they’re not protecting me. They’re not allowing me to protect myself if I can't wear a camera."
An FA spokesperson said that the trial of body cameras for referees announced in February 2023 had been extended to cover additional areas in grassroots football through to 2025.
The need for heightened referee protection was underscored by Taylor's plea as The Cardiff Referees Association took a stand, refusing to officiate at grassroots fixtures following an alleged attack on one of their officials in October.
Sending a stark message, they declared: "There is no way this behaviour on, and off, the pitch can continue, and it is hoped that this unprecedented action will send a clear message."
Similarly, concerns about safety led to Scottish football officials reportedly contemplating strike actions in September after one referee was brutally headbutted and punched during a match.
The violence against referees included a deplorable incident where English referee Dave Bradshaw endured a broken nose, four fractured ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a broken collarbone, and a concussion after a red card decision sparked aggression in a South Lancashire County fixture between Platt Bridge and Wigan Rose last October.
Statistics from the FA expose a startling level of hostility faced by referees, with 1,451 abuse allegations in grassroots football across England from 2022 to 2023.
A concerning breakdown of these incidents reveals that 72 involved actual or attempted assaults, 391 cases of physical contact or attempts thereof, and 988 instances where officials encountered threats.
Karl Shaw, 43, father of the young referee Taylor Shaw, insists that the FA must prioritise referee safety following the abuse his son experienced. He remarked, "Me and Taylor, we don’t want to change the passion of the game, that can stay and it needs to because it’s football."
Showing concern for the human aspect, he added, "All it needs is for a little bit more respect between a human-to-human interaction."
He clarified their stance by saying, "You can have passion, but the moment it gets aggressive, that’s not passion anymore". Taylor, who holds level six FA refereeing qualifications and has worked hard to gain respect in local grassroots leagues over two years, recounted his worst experience during an ill-fated Halifax & District AFL match in October, open to ages 18 to 45. With no assistance and absence of pitch markings, Taylor was bombarded with hostility from kick-off.
Frustrated, he said: "Straight away, there was a barrage of abuse from the fans, none of them having any understanding that there were no markings to help me out."
The situation deteriorated as players began disputing his decisions, attempting to sway calls. He continued, "And this really got the players riled up to a point where they began taking advantage and appealing for decisions that weren’t out, even when it was close to the line."
According to Shaw, the contentious atmosphere escalated tensions further.
"From this, then comes all the abuse with freekicks and everything like that. Because they’re already heated, they’ve already got something to cling on to," he explained.
"One player got in my face and screamed ‘F**k you, Taylor’. I also blew up for offside and someone got in my face and said "You weren’t f**kng looking’. " Taylor revealed that the harsh comments during the match escalated in aggression, with players questioning his competence as a referee.
He continued: "One player decided to make a passing comment.
"He said, 'I know there are not many refs in this league, but he has to be the sh**test one that I’ve had.
"Another player said he had given me a load of sh*t because 'that’s the only way that I’m going to be able to learn how to be a referee.
"I don’t understand what he means by that." Despite the abuse, Taylor remains committed to his ambition of becoming a professional referee, though he admits further instances might cause him to rethink.
He stated: "I love working in a professional environment and making decisions and trying to give both teams justice in football, as I hated injustice when I was playing.
"I want to keep refereeing and I want to keep going, however, it’s made the environment more scary than it’s ever been, I’m going to do it, I’m not going to stop. However, it has really put me off and if something was to happen again, that’s when I don’t know if I can carry on going with refereeing."
An FA spokesperson commented: "We have over 37,000 referees in England, and they are the lifeblood of our game.
"We understand the challenges that some of them face, and we have been very clear that all forms of abuse, whether on or off the pitch, are completely unacceptable.
"While it is only a small minority of people who behave badly to referees, this is still too many, and we will continue to do everything we can to stamp out this behaviour from our game.
"This season, we have introduced a new behaviour improvement programme which will see penalty points accumulations introduced in the grassroots game, identifying the worst offending clubs for incidents of behavioural offences such as dissent and violent conduct, along with poor overall matchday respect scores.
"This builds on the steps taken last season to allow for deductions of league points from clubs that are repeated offenders of serious misconduct.
"Through stronger sanctions, leading innovations and our three-year refereeing strategy, we are determined to tackle this issue and build a safer and more inclusive environment for our match officials to have happy and fulfilling long term experiences as referees.".
