The East Manchester League where many of our teams play held a respect evening yesterday night. It reiterated the #Respect code central to everything we do, without this we have nothing in Grass Roots football.

The main points we all know, but it is worth reiterating some of the key things to remember.

1. We are all role models and children will look to us for guidance. If we are aggressive or negative on the side lines this will be copied on the pitch.
2. It is vital that all parents are fully aware of and abide by the FA Respect code.
3. It is everyone’s responsibility to try to eliminate bad practice. If we see any acts of “abuse” towards parents, players, referees etc then we must report these incidents. Don’t deal with them directly yourself as this could escalate any situation. Report any incident to either the Site Coordinator (at Central Venues) or back to the Club if no league representation at your venue.
4. Any incident that might be construed as a child welfare / safeguarding issue then please report these to the Club’s Welfare officer.
5. Referees are human and over 50% in Manchester FA are between 14 and 18 years old. They are Children and any aggression towards them by any adult (parent, coach etc) will not be tolerated. You wouldn’t speak to your own child in that way so why does it happen towards referees.
6. A referee makes over 250 decisions in a game and will not get them all right. They will however make those decisions honestly and to the best of their ability. The angle / view we have on the side line of an incident is likely to be different from that of the referee. How many times do you see on TV, replays from different angles that change your initial view on an incident. Please remember this before you start to complain to a referee!!! We were shown 10 incidents and asked to make a ruling on them. Not a single person got more than 6-7 right but yet we expect referees to get 100% right!!
8.Remember it is their game. Let children play, make their own decisions and enjoy their football.

As we enter the last weeks of this season , let #Respect be what this season is remembered for...!