"HOOLIGAN" young footballers have forced a referee to give up the game after he had to endure a match full of "violence and abuse" at the weekend.

Les Croy (seen right), aged 23, of Church Row, Pershore, has been refereeing youngsters since he was in his teens, but has decided enough is enough after Sunday's game between Pershore Town and visiting Meadow Park from Bromsgrove.

Mr Croy had to abandon the under 18s match just before half-time when a player from Meadow Park became aggressive towards him after being sent off.

"He pushed me five or six times, was shouting abuse, and tried to punch me, but he missed," said Mr Croy.

"And this was because I had sent him off for verbally abusing one of my assistants.

Children are hooligans

"I've seen this coming for a while now. The children of today think they are bigger and better than they are - they act like hooligans.

"It is too much hassle refereeing a youth game now, I've given it up. The violence and abuse has proved too much. From now on, I will stick with adults - they are better behaved."

Mr Croy, who works at Spectrum Foods in Pershore, blames top footballers and referees for the bad behaviour of juniors. He also said parents were just as bad.

"When I abandoned the match, the verbal abuse coming from the mums and dads was as horrific as that I had received from the kids," he added.

"But I think the real blame lies with the professional game. Top players nowadays think nothing of shouting at, or acting in a threatening behaviour, towards a referee. And more often than not, the referees are letting them get away with it.

"I think, as a result of this, kids football will just come to a standstill. No-one in his right mind is going to want to referee an under 18s game.

"I was shaking for two or threes hours after the game."

Mr Croy has now written to Worcestershire Football Association to demand disciplinary action.

Worcestershire FA disciplinary secretary John Lovegrove was unavailable for comment and a Meadow Park spokesman said he did not wish to speak to the media.

l Two weeks ago, the Evening News reported how two matches were abandoned for similar reasons on the same weekend.