The following article appeared in the programme for Racing Club Warwick v Westfields on 15th March 2005.
Saturday, March 12th and, in a similar vein to Premiership clubs who fancy their chances against teams who have exerted themselves in the Champion’s League during the week, Malvern Town bring our unbeaten run to an end following our mid-week heroics in the League Cup. The visit of Malvern Town was never going to be an easy fixture and, with our substitute’s bench down to two players (including a goalie!), the squad looked a bit on the thin side to say the least. Last season Malvern were promoted into the Alliance and this season look like a solid side with plenty of experience in the shape of Simon Judge and Nathan Jukes. The tale of the match? Well Malvern took their two chances whereas Racing Club fluffed half a dozen good opportunities. That was the first (and hopefully last!) league double recorded against Warwick this season and was something of a disappointment given the chances that we created. Never mind! Let’s get it out of our systems with a win today!
Some of you may have recently read about The Non-League Paper’s Clean Up Our Game campaign. The campaign has come about as a result of the grass roots end of the game saying “enough is enough” with regard to excessive swearing and to the abuse of referees. As a symbol of the campaign, players from the conference and the three feeder leagues will wear green wristbands bearing the slogan “The NLP says: Clean Up Our Game” during the forthcoming Easter fixtures. This is not just cheap symbolism however. There is a real feeling of a need to do something. At the highest levels of the game we regularly see players surrounding the referee and in the recent Arsenal v Manchester United match we saw young Wayne Rooney subjecting the officials to a torrent of abuse. Players in the Non-League game can show the way to their supposed betters on the professional circuit. It is surely an achievable goal: just take a look at the world of Rugby Union where the referee is still called “Sir” and dissent is a rarity.
“Industrial language” has long been part of the game. The F-word is probably the most over-used in the English language. Some of you may be familiar with the joke about the numerous ways that the F-word can be used – for example as an exclamation of surprise, wonder, annoyance etc. The list is virtually endless! To some extent the F-word can be acceptable if used in certain contexts within the game. A striker missing a good chance or a goalie failing to stop a shot might scream it out their frustration. In my view this involuntary use of the F-word is not what the campaign should be about. What is unacceptable is the situation we frequently encounter where players attempt to gee their team mates up via the use of multiple expletives. Remember that all clubs at our level would welcome the additional income that more women and children attending matches would bring. Whilst swearing isn’t the greatest crime in the world, it surely puts some people off.
Some clubs have taken serious steps to clean up their act. Feltham of the Combined Counties League have introduced their own punishment regime: any player dismissed for abuse of an official will now receive a three month ban from the club in addition to any punishment handed down by the FA! Their record of bookings has improved by 85% since introducing the new sanctions. The Feltham manager Frank Brown noticed that the c-word was the most common term of abuse towards referees and has introduced a system of fines for any players caught using the word both on and off the pitch. Paul O’Brien may wish to consider adding this fine-generating opportunity to the list of ways of extracting cash from the players (and management!) for the club kitty!
Marcus also mentioned recently that since Racing Club had made a concerted effort to cut out the bad language and referee abuse, results had improved. Respecting the Ref is therefore more than just polite – it’s positively rewarding! And if any of you supporters out there think that this is just about the players and management, think again! Foul and abusive language from the stands and terraces is just as offensive as it is out on the pitch. We all have our part to play! So the next time that a two-footed challenge goes unpunished whilst a word out of turn receives a yellow card, think again before telling the referee that he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
Keep the faith!
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