English FA take step in the right direction

I’m not one to very often congratulate the English Football Association. In fact, I can’t really remember the last time I did. Whilst I had some sympathy with the purpose of their ‘respect campaign’ this season, I thought it was badly worked out, badly planned and badly implemented, meaning that an important message was seriously diluted.

Serious problem

The FA have now produced a short video to highlight the serious problem of parents at kids football matches. I have to say that the video, starring actor Ray Winstone, is absolutely brilliant. It is powerful and it is well targeted.

Have a look at the video here:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezZ2ZRfSsLY

As a dad myself I have watched all three of my sons playing football throughout their childhood and teens. My youngest is fifteen and I watch him as often as I can.

Thanked

On the whole, the standard of football I have watched over the years has been pretty good. The standard of refereeing has been questionable but often the referee is a coach or a dad doing it out of the goodness of their heart and they should be praised and thanked, not criticised.

The standard of coaching has not always been of the highest level but again, this is people giving up a huge amount of their time for nothing in a thankless role that is hard work.

Parents

The one thing that has consistently made me cross throughout the fifteen years I have been watching kids football is the parents. Not all of them, obviously, but a significant percentage.

Whether they are shouting at their own children demanding more effort or ability or shouting abuse at the referee or being aggressive towards the parents of the opposition or encouraging their son to ‘give him a slap’, or ‘break his leg’, there is rarely a game passes without someone making a complete pratt of themselves and succeeding in making me cross.

Despair

When watching football parents one can be driven to the depths of despair for the future of society, let alone the game of football. Just what lessons are these kids learning? Being competitive is good, being aggressive, as long as it is channelled correctly and in a disciplined fashion, is good. What some of these parents do is simply thuggery.

Anyone who has watched any kids football will recognise the obnoxious character played by Ray Winstone in the video. Many of us wish we had the courage to challenge people like him and tell him to ‘shut-up’. Unfortunately, to our shame, we rarely do. The type of parent who does this sort of thing is often the type that you wouldn’t want to fall out with, so they get away with it.

Support

Whilst I support this video release 100% I am also aware that the people it is aimed at are amongst the least likely people to watch it or take any notice of it. The people who watch it, agree with it and support it are unlikely to be people who behave in this manner anyway.

Something does need to be done. There is no way I would referee a football match at any level from under sixteen’s down. I see absolutely no reason why any sensible person would want to do it. The abuse, threats and unpleasantness far outweigh any good reasons for taking the role.

Idiots

As the video says, if we don’t stop it happening soon, there will be no game. The question is, are the silent majority prepared to stand together to rid the game of these idiots? To a large degree, the problems of violence in the grounds in England and the scourge of racism have been eliminated. That could only be achieved by the real fans, the ones who love the game, standing up to the small minority of people who are hell-bent on ruining it for the rest of us.

This video from the FA may not be the answer to the problem but it is a start and should be supported by all true football fans.