Jeff Winter's Soccer Spotlight || Middlesbrough F.C. news, reviews and comment

FOUL LANGUAGE 18-2-08
Jeff Winter

CLICK HERE TO JOIN IN JEFF'S LIVE Q & A SESSION TONIGHT...

This week it has been announced that in conjunction with the FA, the Angrove Northern League is to have a purge on the use of bad language.

To anyone who has ever played - or indeed as I did, reffed - in the League, it comes as no surprise that the Northern League is happy to enter this marriage of common decency.

Indeed, even thirty years ago when I was learning my trade in this League, it was always stressed that the red card must be issued for swearing.

Indeed many a referees' fledgling career was put under threat if he failed to send off the mucky mouths.

Club committee men and League representatives stalked the touchline with ears pricked, although it has to be said that many had hearing as selective as Wenger's eyes and only heard opposition profanities.

I recall the unbelievable instance of a player who shouted "You ****ing bastard" as his leg was broken in a challenge at South Bank only to be shown the red card as he left for Accident and Emergency on a stretcher.

Now don't get me wrong I am not knocking the NL's stance and attempts to bring decorum to local non League Football, but this latest move does leave me scratching my head.

Surely it is a case of the tail wagging the dog. Week after week we watch football on TV where language is used as freely as a telling pass.

Only the blind would not have seen Rooney mouth, "**** off, you ****ing prick, **** off" at a hapless official recently, only then to escape any form of punishment.

Well excuse me for being naive but Thornaby FC's centre forward getting sent off is hardly going to scare the pants off and send out a warning to the Premier League's finest.

Indeed the repercussions to the local footballers are far more serious. No one or three match bans for their misdemeanours - they get up to thirty-five day bans and fines that are commensurate to half of their Job Seekers' allowance weekly entitlement. To put it into perspective, this is similar to a £70,000 fine to John Terry.

Faced with bans such as this and fines that are hard to explain to the wife, many in fact walk away from the local football scene.

The funds from fines go to swell the ever increasing coffers of the various County Football associations, now land owning limited companies in the main due to the turnover in fines that run across the country into millions of pounds.

This money is supposedly fed back to help the grass roots football that people are walking away from.

Surely if an example is to be set, then Rooney and co being sent off would set an example across the board. This, however, is unlikely to happen.

The refs, before you start levelling criticism at them at pro level face a problem also.

The guy who decides to start a one man clean up campaign and rid the game of those who need not to be named would incur the wrath of the press, the fans, the clubs and would write himself out of possible selection for big games and indeed reffing the big clubs.

Support from the authorities? You are joking! Would the FA risk having a card maverick reffing the FA Cup Final and having their showpiece destroyed by a flurry of red cards? No way!

So why have all the pro refs not been told to ask in unison to rid the game of the cancer that makes watching TV a no go experience until after the watershed you may well ask?

The truth is that in the world in which we now live, bad language is acceptable. Just watch TV - "Shameless" may be extreme but post 9pm the "F" word is as common as any other.

Indeed the authorities even changed the wording of their laws deleting the wording "foul or abusive language" into something that is watered down and leaves it very much to the ref's personal tolerance level.

To be quite honest I would rather rid the game of the potentially career threatening two footed tackles than the odd expletive - remember the old saying "Sticks and Stones"?

Indeed in the later years of my career, I met fire with fire and in the main the players dealt a lot better with verbals returned to them than a card or a lecture. Not for one moment am I condoning or recommending my course of action but realistically it did work.

So at the end of all this, games in the Northern League Division Two will be spoiled as sides are depleted whilst the refs will run round like red card waving lunatics, scared of their own career being "****ed" by non-conformity.

The players will be banned, fined and sickened and Wayne Rooney, Alan Smith and co will still run round telling anyone and everyone to "**** off".

As I have said before, the lunatics are most definitely running the asylum nowadays. Their protection of the "stars and their clubs" will soon be affecting you as the Sunday League refs sort you out!!

YOU CAN READ MANY MORE OF JEFF'S ARTICLES ON HIS OFFICIAL SITE

RETURN TO JEFF WINTER'S SOCCER SPOTLIGHT INDEX HERE