Referee of 20 years retires after player attack

Michael Giblin has been a football referee for about 20 years

A football referee of more than 20 years has said he has stopped officiating games after a player assaulted him.

Michael Giblin was in charge of a Bedford & District Sunday League game when he issued a yellow card to a player for a foul tackle.

The man punched him twice after the final whistle, Mr Giblin said.

The Bedfordshire Football Association (FA) said the man was banned from the sport for five years and that it did not "condone any physical violence or abuse".

"I was so determined in myself that one idiot wasn't going to stop me doing something I love; being a referee for 20-odd years," he told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"There comes a point where it's just not worth it anymore and I decided enough is enough."

Mr Giblin (right) said he had always donated his match fees to charity

Having cautioned the player and sent him to the sin bin for abusive language during the match in Bedford on 12 November, Mr Giblin said he received "another torrent of abuse" at full time.

The offender was dragged away by fellow players after striking him twice, Mr Giblin recalled.

"The biggest shock for me is I thought it had been a really good end to the game and from my perspective I couldn't understand the reasons behind this, it just seemed illogical."

Mr Giblin did not sustain a serious injury and following FA guidelines, reported the incident to police.

The Bedfordshire FA said: "[We] do not condone any physical violence or abuse towards match officials."

Bedfordshire Police was approached for comment.

Initially Mr Giblin, who said he always donated his match fee to charity, took a break from refereeing but when he returned to the job in January he had lost enthusiasm.

He explained: "Whether [I] lost confidence, whether I didn't enjoy it enough anymore, I wasn't 100% convinced.

"You only have to watch a football show on the TV and most of the analysis is about the referee, it's not about the players anymore... And a lot of that focus has filtered down to grassroots."

The Referees' Association said it "continually" dealt with reports of officials being "attacked and abused".

"Unfortunately violence towards referees is becoming more widespread," an association spokesperson said.

"The punishment for this behaviour is obviously not deterring those involved and the football authorities need to start issuing sanctions that will deal with the cause, not just the symptoms of the problem."

The association argued that high profile pundits and clubs publicly criticising referees had encouraged violence from some.