The Respect programme was launched at the start of the 2008/09 season. Its original objectives were;

• To recruit and retain enough referees for the demands of the game at every level.
• To reduce the number of  assaults on referees
• To achieve an improvement in on- field player discipline particularly in the area of dissent to referees
• To manage a step change in youth football as to what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour from parents and spectators. (click here for parents & spectators online guide)

There is and will remain to be plenty of work to do but there are some positives to report - so please challenge the sceptics!

• In 2007 there were 22918 referees in 2012 there are 28700. The biggest challenge is retaining a group of predominately young referee’s in the game. Over 25 % ( > 7,500) are in the age range 14 – 19.
• The number of reported referee assaults (all categories) decreased by 16% in 2011/12 and the number of ‘Assaults causing serious bodily harm’ reduced from 11 to 6.
• In the Premier League and Football League the number of dissent cautions has reduced by 17% since 2008. There were 66 dissent cautions in the PL and 113 in the FL Championship in 2011/12. There is a dissent caution in less than 1 in 5 games in the PL and FL.
• The number of misconduct charges and warnings for offences such as ‘surrounding a match official’ and ‘mass confrontation’ increased in the professional game in 2011/12. However it is felt that this increase reflects a response to guidance issues at the start of the season relating to a tighter definition of these offences and greater consistency in reporting by match officials and assessors.
• The total number of dissent cautions in all affiliated football has fallen since 2008 although the number of general cautions has increased.
• There is widespread agreement that the environment of youth football has improved with widespread adoption of Codes of Conduct, Touchline Barriers, Pitch side Marshalls and Respect briefings for coaches and parents.

Updates……

Respect Leagues Rewards Scheme – Over 200 leagues applied to the Awards scheme for recognition. The CFA’s helped promote the scheme. Many leagues have appreciated being thanked by the FA Chairman for the work that they do and at the Silver Level many leagues have requested hospitality at forthcoming England fixtures or a FA Cup visit. The Rewards scheme will run again in 2012/13 and it is hoped that more Leagues will be encouraged to apply and to achieve higher levels of recognition.

Respect Awards – These were staged at the 2012 FA Cup Final. It’s great to be able to recognise these clubs, leagues and individuals but the main benefit is to identify a body of good practice so that we can say – ‘This is what Respect looks like…’ A series of short films have been made on the work of the 10 winners which can be found at http://www.thefa.com/my-football/more/respect

Respect and the FA Youth Review   -The FA are planning to provide all youth leagues with a Respect resource pack. All of the printed resources will be contained on a memory stick.  These will be; Players cards – for presentation to spectators, revised Codes of Conduct for players, spectators, coaches, Respect posters, Captain’s Guides, example welcome template for opposition spectators, example marking scheme for youth leagues, new On line Respect Coaching module, new Football Foundation, Respect Barrier and signage scheme, guidance on managing the match day environment. Leagues will also be able to order Captain’s Armbands and Respect parent’s and carers DVDs for use at parent’s evenings.

The FA funded barrier scheme has now finished with all funds spent up. This will be replaced latter in the summer by a scheme to be administered by the Football Foundation that will also include Respect signage.

Any questions concerning the Respect programme can be directed to the County Welfare Officer Ian Binks via e mail to Ian.Binks@HampshireFA.Com