‘I refereed a match – every player had blood on their face and one threatened to kill me’

‘I refereed a match – every player had blood on their face and one threatened to kill me’ says Scotty McLellan, a volunteer referee.

The 22-year-old spoke about the consequences of officiating a game between Four Marks and Normandy in the Aldershot Saturday League last year to SurreyLive.

He spoke about the trauma he faced at the non league fixture and recalled just how shocking it was, so much so that he took a five-month break from the sport after a player threatened to kill him.

He said: “The match erupted into a mass brawl involving all 22 players. The team player, who was the initial aggressor, picked up a corner flag and threw it at a spectator. This was after him punching at least four players and by this point every single player had blood on their face either from the hustle and tussle of pulling each other or punching.”

By this point, the referee said that all he could do was get out of the brawl and take notes.

“Obviously I abandoned the match, but before that I had to call each player and show them a disciplinary. I red-carded this one player and as he came over he had his fist clenched and threaten to hit and kill me as soon as I showed him a straight red card.”

The footage, which went viral, took place on the 10th of April last year, was reviewed by the FA, who handed the player a 112-day ban on top of being permanently disqualified from Aldershot Saturday League.

McLellan said: “That made me take a break from refereeing for five months because quite simply I didn’t know what to do in that situation of a player threatening to kill me.

“By that point in the game I was almost not a referee and instead a bouncer as I had to push players away from each other.”

After the chaotic scenes, a number of police turned up having been called by fans watching the trouble break out.

McLellan, of Aldershot, also recounted the time in which, two years prior to this, he was tailgated by a furious footballer in his drive in Hampshire following a game that had to be abandoned.

“He then overtook me and jammed on his brakes to try and make me crash into the back of him,” he said. Scotty was speaking after the FA announced its plans for a trial involving referees wearing body cameras during adult grassroot matches from next year to help prevent abuse.

A spokesperson for Hampshire Police said: “We were called on Saturday 10 April 2021 to a report of a fight during a football match between Four Marks and Normandy at the Four Marks Recreation Ground.

“A man in his 20s reported that he was put in fear of violence during the incident. A 45-year-old man, from Tongham, was issued with a community resolution.”

This comes amid a concern that not enough talented referees are coming through the system because too many are suffering abuse, according to the head of the Referees’ Association.

“Why would a 14-year-old go referee on local parks when they have all this hassle?” RA chief Paul Field told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme.

“I do wonder how much talent we have lost over the years when it comes to refereeing in this country because of abuse.”

Former boss of the PGMOL, ex-Premier League referee Keith Hackett, called the VAR decisions made in recent weeks “horrendous” and said the decisions of top officials were having a negative knock-on effect on grassroots referees.

“We are in the fourth season of using VAR in the Premier League and we are making a pig’s ear of it,” Hackett told BBC Radio 5 Live earlier this month.

“At the moment it is awful and it’s having a knock-on effect, making life very difficult for referees at grassroots level when they see their senior colleagues fouling up in such a bad way.

“It’s not just the decision on the field, it’s the impact on spectators who are now saying to me the game is corrupt. The game is not corrupt, what we have is a poor delivery of VAR in this country that needs to be rectified now.”