72-year-old referee trials body cam in West Yorkshire Amateur League

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  • Video report by Helen Steel

A 72-year-old referee who has officiated more than 4,600 games is trialling the use of body-worn cameras in an initiative to combat on-field abuse.

Mike Stoddart has been running the rule over matches for 48 years at various levels in the footballing pyramid.

In that time he says he has been subjected to verbal and physical attacks.

"Over the years I've received a lot of abuse, really difficult situations to handle," he said.

"I've been assaulted twice. A player punched me as I was sending him off and I fell backwards, and then I ran and all the players jumped on him.

"A player 'Di Canio-ed' me, pushed me - I fell back and banged my head. The game was abandoned."

That reference - to an incident when Paolo Di Canio pushed referee Paul Alcock while playing for Sheffield Wednesday in the Premier League in 1998 - shows how long the intimidation of officials has been a problem and how it transcends all levels of the game.

Mike Stoddart wore the camera for the first time while refereeing Scissett v Morley Town. Credit: ITV News

Stoddart is now among half the referees in the Yorkshire Amateur League who are trialling body cams in games.

They will manually record incidents if problems get out of hand.

He was wearing the camera for the first time while refereeing the game between Scissett and Morley Town on Saturday, but had no need to use the device.

He said: "Hopefully it'll be a deterrent for people doing stupid things, abusing them, assaulting them. Only time will tell how it's working.

"If someone is coming to abuse me or thinking about thumping me they'll see their face in this camera and think, that's me."

The body cam trial, which is the first of its kind in the world, began in other English leagues last year, but the FA said no incidents had been recorded so far.

"Referees are the lifeblood of our game... we've listened to feedback from the referee community, and we hope this trial will have a positive impact on the behaviour towards them – so that ultimately they can enjoy officiating in a safe and inclusive environment," said Mark Bullingham, chief executive of the FA.

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