Sunday League Football - Behaviour of parents

[RG30]

Anyone got any experiences of the behaviour of parents at local saturday/sunday football matches. Are they abusive or have things calmed down since the FA's respect campaign came into power. If anyone else has any experiences of other sports and the touchline behaviour of parents then please let us know.

[SpaceCruiser]

Who is "us"?

[Row Z Royal]

Anyone got any experiences of the behaviour of parents at local saturday/sunday football matches. Are they abusive or have things calmed down since the FA's respect campaign came into power. If anyone else has any experiences of other sports and the touchline behaviour of parents then please let us know.

Feckin' abusive. And childish. For one team in Reading, anyway.

[BReal]

Anyone got any experiences of the behaviour of parents at local saturday/sunday football matches. Are they abusive or have things calmed down since the FA's respect campaign came into power. If anyone else has any experiences of other sports and the touchline behaviour of parents then please let us know.

do your own fecking homework

[RG30]

Anyone got any experiences of the behaviour of parents at local saturday/sunday football matches. Are they abusive or have things calmed down since the FA's respect campaign came into power. If anyone else has any experiences of other sports and the touchline behaviour of parents then please let us know.

do your own fecking homework

I am Need assistance though,

[Hoop Blah]

The Respect campaign has had absolutley zero impact from what I've seen, although I don't watch much of the kids football where the parent issue comes into it.

It was put together as a bit of PR and a nice attempt to look like they wanted to do something but they got it all wrong. Instead of starting at the bottom they should've started at the top as those on the TV have a massive impact on the behaviour and attitude of players at grass roots.

[papereyes]

In the games I've played, there's an attitude of, well, cheering the nasty and late tackles.

Played against a team from Prestwich in a semi final and at 4-1 up, they were still thundering in. You've won. We're out. No need.

[Thomas L'Heureux]

I coach the Basingstoke Town Colts youth teams and some of the behaviour from parents is inexcusable really, not only towards the opposition and referee, but sometimes towards their own children and their team-mates.

Send me a PM if you want some examples and I'll reel a few off but we as a club have made complaints about the behavior of parents and opposition managers in the recent past.

[Dirk Gently]

I asked exactly the same question to someone involved with Referees recently and he said that things definitely have got a lot better, although it varies on a regional basis. Where the county FA and the leagues involved have fully endorsed teh Respect campaign (e.g. distributing teh guideleines and taking action against those clubs/players who break them things are much better. Where the county FA and the leagues involved don't give a toss nothing much has changed.

In places where it has got better, the most striking difference is the "white line" which parents stay behind - it might be symbolic but it does work - and it makes it much easier for lino's, too.

[Terminal Boardom]

I used to be a Sunday League referee. On one occasion, I reffed a youth game in Woodley. The verbal abuse from the kids playing and the parents was the worst I ever experienced. It helped make my mind up about quitting at the end of that season. That was almost 30 years ago so it is not a new problem. Sadly, too many kids are influenced by what they see the pros do and too many parents are as thick as pig shit and genuinely believe that their little Johnny is the greatest player in the world. Frankly, it sucks.

[6ft Kerplunk]

I watched a French Sunday league game that my cousin was playing in a couple of years ago. Its was a fairly decent standard but still really just a match between two villages. But the difference in culture was massive. The ref didn't tolerate any back chat and because of that the players didn't bother unless it was a truly awful decision. If anyone in the crowd had a go the ref was pointing it out to the managers who'd have to go and tell their fans to shut up.

[East Grinstead Royal]

I've just completed my 3rd season of watching my 11yo play for our village team. They play in the Mid-Sussex league which comprises teams from the Burgess Hill area. On the whole, the parents have been excellent - I can only recall one occasion where anything remotely untoward has happened, and that was a parent questioning a refereeing decision, where the referee gave the parent a very public lecture along the lines of his decision is final, so shut up!

That said, I hear that the nearby Crawley leagues can generate a very different range of parental involvement. And my boss's son plays in Surrey, where one team has to change leagues at the end of every season when they are expelled because of the behaviour of the team and parents.

[LUX]

I got threatened with physical violence from three or four parents whilst refereeing an under 8's tournament over here a couple of years ago. It was all about a penalty not given (I thought it was an accidental collision, on the grounds that at that age kids do not foul on purpose, and waved play on).

I had to get protection from the organisers.

[Sun Tzu]

I would say it is a very mixed picture.

I'm a ref and I'm also involved with a club, plus have kids who play so see things from several angles.

There are some clubs where the behaviour is appalling from parents, players and officials. They simply do not seem to understand what is and isn't acceptable. They are the minority though and I would say generally things are not too bad. Respect has been rolled out pretty poorly in this area in my view. It is absolutely the correct thing and is very simple in what it tries to achieve. But the people responsible for it in Berks are hopeless, have zero credibility and simply want to rack up ticks in boxes. They will come and do a two hour presentation to clubs which bores the pants off everyone and as they appear to have no background in running clubs or officiating no one takes them seriously.

Lots of clubs have taken Respect on board and done good things with it though. Many clubs now have codes of conduct which all players and parents must sign at the start of the season. If you get a problem from a parent the fact that they have signed this does make it easier to deal with them. We've had 3 or 4 incidents in the last few years which have been 'serious' and the code has worked in dealing with them.

I've also found a change in attitude amongst refs. There are some superb refs in local football and I believe there is a greater willingness for refs to talk and work with clubs rather than stay seperate and not engage in dialogue. Whether or not that is due to Respect i don;t know.

Agree 100% that the professional game needs to clean it's act up in order for things to really work lower down. It needs on eof the major professionals to be hit really hard with a ban for dissent (they should have chucked Cole out of the game....) and a huge row to kick off . If the pros decided that alongside massive wealth comes some responsibility it would make life much easier for the majoirty who work at grass roots level.

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

Wathching a lot of academy stuff you realise just how young they pick this up at. Was at an u14's tourney last week and was genuienly taken back by the abuse staff and players gave the officials.

There's still such a them and us attidude in the pro game and the disdain seems bread into them by an early age. By the time they are playing u18s/reserve team football they are calling the ref a cnut for every decision that goes against them.

That is the big problem with football. I do think the media image of all players being big time ego maniacs is well off, but they have such little respect for anyone or anything outside their close circle.

[Sun Tzu]

I watched a Hellenic game recently and one of the managers was an ex pro and his behaviour towards the officials was appalling. Constant barrage of abuse clearly designed to put pressure on the officials, who obviously at that level are doing it as a hobby, not a job. His team were hardly performing well and if I had been reffing I think i would have politely suggested to him that if he did his job properly he wouldn;t need to be trying to stop me doing mine !!