Watched the full film of the incident this morning, absolutely shocking to watch and ironic the Players and police are trying to protect a prostrate referee from what was basically an assault from the owner and their followers….the excuses they gave afterwards stretched credulity to it’s limits.

Terrible, but you have to ask if this has been a long time coming?
Years ago there was a drive and trial to emulate rugby where the refs, no matter their performances or standards, are shown the utmost respect, they even copied the moving of free kicks 10 yards forward if dissent was shown.
Rugby and Tennis both started and maintained the cracking down on abuse of officials whereas football just turns a blind eye which actually encourages worsening behaviour.
The FA needs to grow a set and introduce codes of conduct and consistently apply sanctions, plus poor refereeing performances need to be looked at with consistently poor individual performances by officials being addressed by means of coaching or deselected. Var also needs a dose of looking at so that the primary aim is not to protect their mate in the middle rather than improving the game. Again Rugby is the model to follow and maybe the head of Var needs to come from that sphere rather than just giving it to a high profile ex ref.

The FA brought in its respect campaign in an attempt to protect referees. Problem is respect for authority in general has gone years ago which the police will tell you. People just do not like being told by anyone of authority and this starts more at school and parents are not helping or being helped either. About time all FA realise that physical fitness comes a poor second to being mentally fit to control 22 players on the pitch plus benches. We have a situation now of nothing but a win will do from fans upwards and people cannot accept a defeat they once did. Not just at the top of the game but sunday league as well. somebody has to be blamed and match officials are the easy target. Did the job for just short of 30 years without threats or assaults and it seemed the same refs every time who got the stick. i wasn,t a soft touch by a long way but if you got a caution or sending off from me you certainlt deserved it. Never once had to go to a tribunal by them appealing my decision even though they were not happy at the time. some however spent hours of their lives at a county fa office.

Great post Mr A. I agree about how society in general has no respect for authority. It is thought as somehow fascist to have rules which need to be obeyed.

But the FA turn a blind eye when it suits and particularly when bigger clubs are involved. The rules at present are that the only player allowed to approach the ref is the captain, so why haven't they given Haalund a severe punishment as a deterrent?

and guess what a lot of teams did when that was brought in. make their keeper the captain just to make it harder for refs to communicate with a captain so nothing changed much. the fa is a complete joke and anyone with any connection to their local county fa knows this well.

Trouble is, that attack was by one set of owners, not players and coaches, so I’d like to see owners banned from the game….and charged.
If fans can be charged, so should owners.

exactly. fans could be banned for life by entering the field of play and just confronting a match official without violence involved. managers get touchline bans therefore unable to do their jobs and fined for just telling a few home truths about them. violence where drunk or not is totally unacceptable but serious criticism needs to be encouraged and not the opposite if improvements can be made due to it and managers and players stopped being tret like naughty schoolboys because daring to speak the truth. an explanation and or an appology can go a long way instead of quoting law number so and so sub section this or that to attemped to prove how right they are.

Also need a real clampdown on players feigning fouls and injuries. Referees have a difficult enough job without them Co ti ually getting away with it.
Pundits don't help with comments such as "not enough for a penalty" in cases of fouls and shirt pulling - surely a fouls or a tug on a shirt is a free kick every time? It is outside the box so why does it need to be of increased severity in the box.

The football authorities want drama and controversy as it is publicity. Imo the game is just a circus.

Would not bother me if the keeper was captain even if i was 90yds away.
He would have had to come to me to question my decision, I know who would tire first.
I did a bit myself and never had a single threat, Maybe lucky who knows.

The FA, Well need i say more, They gag the refs don,t they.
A ref should do his utmost to control players, reasonably.
If any player in the PLge like mentioned above acted in a threatening way the ref sould show him a red.
Some refs are easily intimidated and players, Managers, Know that.

Maybe the managers should be banned from the touchline when a player acts like a thug, Because thats how they are acting like a child that can,t get its own way.

The FA don,t hesitate to ban players through video footage.

You make a good point and it annoys the hell out of me. I’m still playing 6 aside here and if I had my arm around someone in the penalty there would be all hell to pay

not enough for a penalty. it was a soft penalty. really a criticism of the person awarding it as the laws of the game are quite clear and the foul itself does not need to reach a level for a decision to be made. possibly some change in the laws should be made where all offences inside the penalty area that are direct free kicks do not need to be penalty decisions and a lesser punishment given. its hardly revolutionary when you see how other things have changed over the years.