I agree that abuse is out of order but in the same league the standard of referees needs to improve. In the last two weeks my sone has been involved in U12 matches where the referee has not protected his team from very agressive and DANGEROUS tackles. In both games we were reduced to nine men when our players had to be PHYSICALLY carried off. In both cases the referee did not use cards of either colour despite FA rules being very clear about two footed off the ground lunge tackles - which are auto matic red cards. At this young age we need to see more use by referees of cards to get rid of some of the wilder tackles going in that ruin the football careers of so many kids.

   I think the lads in Benchill and their coach should be told to get out of football. If the young lad says "It's a man's game", he should go down to Didsbury TocH and learn a proper team game, namely rugby Union.

The coaches there teach rugby and respect ...respect for the laws of the game, the referee and the opponents.

They are also taught to accept defeat, bitter though it may be...and one of the first things they are taught is to make a tunnel at the end of the game to shake hands with the opponents.

Obviously, based on the article, the incident was an insult to the neutral referee....so have the League got the guts to make a stand? Or are thy going to brush it under the carpet and let Benchill carry on down their path to self destruction?

Watch this space....I think the Reporter should follow this issue up to report what actually happens.