A Wirral football coach feels that the decision to close the Eastham & District Junior League was fully justified, with abuse getting worse over recent seasons.
The committee elected to suspend all fixtures across each age-group for two weeks after a series of incidents including an alleged mass brawl between parents in an under 15’s match, and Greenleas AFC manager Brandon Comber reckons the ban has been on the cards for some time.
He said: “I think everyone recognises that it was needed. The amount of issues you hear about every week, it was coming.
“This season has been the worst I’ve seen it. It’s tough to watch, at times.
“I’ve had to referee most of our home games because it’s hard to find officials who want to take part in these fixtures. The suspension felt inevitable and we feel the league have made the right decision.”
Wallasey based Comber, who coaches the club’s u15’s and u10’s, has been around youth football for three seasons and is in no doubt as to what’s causing the problems.
“It’s mainly down to the parents getting overly-involved,” he said.
“They’ve come to watch their child play and ultimately, you get a select few who ruin the match with their aggression.
“We had an incident with our u10’s not long ago, where one of our managers was threatened in front of all the players.
“There’s just no need for it, either. I think they get a bit too into the game when all they need to do is just let the kids play and keep quiet on the sides.”
The Eastham & District league committee aren’t the first to impose a suspension on junior leagues, with several others across the country experiencing similar issues in recent years.
According to Kick it Out, reports of abuse at grassroots level are on the rise, with 325 complaints made to the charity last season.
Most alarmingly, however, their data shows that 57% of reports occur in youth football and Comber says the Eastham League must continue to combat such aggressive behaviour.
He said: “Once the ban is lifted, I think they have to start digging deeper. There needs to be league representatives going to watch every team, and then looking at the parents.
“Which parents are causing the problems? Can they come back or do they need suspending? Then it’s down to the clubs.
“It’s just frustrating for the kids, to be honest. Our lads are all gutted because it’s nothing to do with them. They just want to play so they’ve hated the past two weeks.”
The ban is set to end after this weekend, before fixtures resume following a “mandatory meeting” between all clubs on Monday.
The league introduced the suspension on October 22, stating: “If we do not act now, we risk losing our volunteers, our league officials, and our referees.
“Without them, there is no league for your children.
“We have always taken pride in being a league that protects and supports our officials and players. That is what we must do now, for the good of everyone involved.
“Let this be a rest. Let this be a turning point. Let us rebuild a culture of respect, inclusion and integrity, together.”
