TREATMENT OF REFEREES
Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2023 3:04 pm
Well the game has now hit a new low, where in Turkey a referee was punched by a Club President and all domestic football in that country has been suspended indefinitely.
It got me thinking about last night's game, where some of the behaviour that I observed from our fans was....well let's say not good. Fans of all ages. Unacceptable foul and abusive over the top language all directed at last night's referee. Young and old.
Why do "fans" watching soccer games think it's ok to attend game after game and abuse the referee? Why do they regard match officials as being from the distant planet Zog and therefore different? Imagine if you came to every game and were subjected to abuse because someone thought your performance as a fan was cr@p? Would that be ok then? Would YOU just brush it off and not react? You expect the referee to!
What I saw and heard night might have been the norm in the 70s, 80s, 90s - but not in 2023. It is not the Hitchin way of today, it is not the Hitchin culture. Older fans setting no example to the impressionable younger fans.
I hope that the Club will take appropriate steps in the future to address the foul language - and anyone heard uttering the "c" word immediately ejected and banned. That's how strongly I feel.
If it persists....well it's not the Hitchin Town I want to support. The referee may in the eyes of many had a stinker, but the abuse of him last night was unacceptable.
What I'd like to see happen is that anyone at the game last night who sees my posting will take a good look at themselves and say: "As a fan, did I represent the Club I support in the way they would have hoped?". The referees and match officials are HUMAN BEINGS and at least deserve to be afforded respect to that degree! Imagine if the majority of them said: "Don't need that abuse anymore" and gave it up?
Where would our game be?
It got me thinking about last night's game, where some of the behaviour that I observed from our fans was....well let's say not good. Fans of all ages. Unacceptable foul and abusive over the top language all directed at last night's referee. Young and old.
Why do "fans" watching soccer games think it's ok to attend game after game and abuse the referee? Why do they regard match officials as being from the distant planet Zog and therefore different? Imagine if you came to every game and were subjected to abuse because someone thought your performance as a fan was cr@p? Would that be ok then? Would YOU just brush it off and not react? You expect the referee to!
What I saw and heard night might have been the norm in the 70s, 80s, 90s - but not in 2023. It is not the Hitchin way of today, it is not the Hitchin culture. Older fans setting no example to the impressionable younger fans.
I hope that the Club will take appropriate steps in the future to address the foul language - and anyone heard uttering the "c" word immediately ejected and banned. That's how strongly I feel.
If it persists....well it's not the Hitchin Town I want to support. The referee may in the eyes of many had a stinker, but the abuse of him last night was unacceptable.
What I'd like to see happen is that anyone at the game last night who sees my posting will take a good look at themselves and say: "As a fan, did I represent the Club I support in the way they would have hoped?". The referees and match officials are HUMAN BEINGS and at least deserve to be afforded respect to that degree! Imagine if the majority of them said: "Don't need that abuse anymore" and gave it up?
Where would our game be?