“He came onto the pitch and swung for my face.”
Those are the shocking words of Tim Hughes, who was physically attacked at an under-17s game in Lincoln.
“Thankfully I was able to get my arm up and he just knocked me over, rather than connecting with my cheekbone,” he said.
The son of one of the managers in the game rushed onto the field after being ordered to leave the ground due to verbal abuse. The 41-year-old managed to avoid the punch, and filed a complaint to the police as the game was being filmed.
That was not a one-off either.
Tim, who has 17 years of experience officiates youth games, said: “In one adult game I sent a player off for a nasty challenge, it could’ve been an ankle breaker. As I showed him the red card he came literally nose-to-nose with me and says ‘I’m going to see you after the game, and rearrange your face’.
“I had to make sure I went with the opposition team and left the field of play with them, because I was afraid that he could’ve been waiting for me in the car park.”
Incidents like these are part of an overall trend, with a 32-percent increase nationally of reported assaults towards referees revealed in late 2024.
That number jumped from up the 2022/23 season to the subsequent campaign, alongside a 17-percent rise in all forms of abuse.
“The smaller things are like when you give a decision, players might just say ‘f*** off ref, that was never a foul’.”
Tim added: “That kind of response you tend to just let it go. When you give a decision that is contentious, that is where the abuse comes.”
Lincolnshire-based Declan Ford has close to 500 professional games under his belt, running the line in the English Football League and referring National League fixtures across his near four decades of experience.
Declan, now 51, started refereeing as a 14-year-old, and has seen his fair share of incidents over the years.
He said: “From the players it’s not as bad. I haven’t had a face-to-face, physical confrontation in the pro game, it’s more verbal.
“The worst bit in the pro game is from the fans. That’s when you get some very poor comments, you sort of switch off from it.
“The bigger the crowd the more you switch off from it, so the smaller the crowd the more likely you are to hear it.”
A former army man, Declan has been Lincolnshire FA’s referee development manager since last summer. He focuses on the more than 700 grassroots referees in the county.
He explained: “It’s a shock to the system the first time it happens to anybody, thankfully it’s not every week because we referee hundreds of games every weekend across the county. But, one case is too many.”
“The vast majority of teams in the county behave themselves, but there is a small minority that causes issues whether it be players, coaches, or spectators.
“I don’t think it is getting worse, but the abuse in terms of homophobia and racism we are getting more reported,” he said. “I think that’s a good thing because people are more confident to report now.”
One such incident resulted in a 336-day footballing ban for a player who threatened a Lincolnshire Sunday league official.
Ben Pearce, head of safeguarding and football operations, offered the county’s reaction to the outcome of the independent investigation, and said: “The Association believes that although sanctions are a necessary part of addressing poor behaviour, they are not the sole solution to this problem.
“We are actively encouraging clubs to support a more positive culture within Lincolnshire football, which although will take time to embed, we feel is the most sustainable way of protecting the integrity of the game at all levels.”
Declan spoke about an example of his own, acknowledging the abuse he gets as an EFL official.
“It becomes tribal. A couple of weeks ago I was at Notts County, they were losing 2-1. I was in front of the main stand, so there are about 5,000 County fans behind me, and 10 minutes to go my flag goes up to disallow what would’ve been an equalising goal,” he said. “Then, for the last 10 minutes it’s just dog’s abuse from the fans.”
The behaviour of elite footballers is being copied at the lower levels according to Declan.
That is something Tim agreed with, saying: “When I started out, I was initially doing adult football. Obviously, there is a lot of stuff happening at the very top of the game which over the years has been mimicked at the lower levels and throughout.
“That behaviour is seen as acceptable down to the grassroots level, because they feel like they can do that as if it’s an accepted part of football culture that.”
However, Lincolnshire saw a rise of referee numbers in their most recent figures.
In fact, Tim has not been put off from refereeing. “It’s like a drug, if I don’t do any refereeing for a couple of weeks, I get this itch to scratch. I just enjoy it, even though it has its ups and downs.”