Dear Club Secretary,
During the past season we have lost even more Referees due to foul and abusive language, threats of violence and actual violence. These were actions carried out against not only appointed officials but also player against player. We do not have enough Referees to cover all our games on Sunday mornings and the situation is becoming more serious than ever.
As you are probably aware The County FA are the only body that can issue punishments for on the field offences, however, we as a League are determined to remove clubs and players from our competitions who bring this League into disrepute. Under our League rules we are unable to take action until the appropriate County Association has dealt with the misconduct report. If the County FA find a player, official or Club guilty it will be dealt under League Rules 6 (E) and 12 (A).
Any Club who are charged with serious misconduct, and found guilty, will be the subject of an Officer’s mandate to the following AGM not to include them in the constitution for the following season. We have done this in previous cases and will do so in the future. Where there is a serious assault on any player we strongly advise Clubs to involve the police at the earliest opportunity. Players guilty of serious misconduct will have their registration reviewed and the League may decide not to accept their Registration for any Club for the following season. We would hope that Clubs would take action against any playing member or Club Official who is found guilty of serious misconduct by the County FA.
Most Clubs and their players appreciate the role that Referees play in allowing park football to thrive on Sunday mornings in the Reading area. Many Clubs in the lower Leagues play their matches with no appointed Official without a problem. Unfortunately we still have a small core of players / officials and spectators who think they can abuse the Referees that we do have. We, as a League are determined to put a stop to this and we will.
Can you, as Club Secretary, ensure that your team managers, players and supporters are aware of this correspondence and ensure that they are reminded of their responsibilities as Club members? If a Club fails to take appropriate action, we as a League certainly will. We cannot continue to lose Referees that are no longer enjoying Sunday football because eventually there will be no League for you to play in.
The executive Officers of the Reading Sunday League