Coulsdon Athletic Football Club are committed to providing a safe and friendly environment for our players and support the Football Association's Respect Campaign, who have adopted a new endorsement to present the Respect message.

The Football Association's message is “We only do positive” and this is to promote what is expected of Clubs and their members, so basically leading by example.

All too often the players' day is spoiled by bad behaviour from the side-lines, which can come from both sets of supporters and invariably affects the players.

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Some examples of how the players' environment becomes hostile :-

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• Persistent Dissent to the referee - this is often picked up by players who are following their parents' lead.

• Supporters that are too vocal shouting out orders to players, which confuses them because it is often different from what they are taught by their coaches, leading to issues between the player and coaches.

• Confrontation with the opposition supporters is often then picked up by the players of both sides, which then leads to disciplinary issues on the field of play.

• Players being singled out by supporters who chastise them.

• Threatening and violent conduct between supporters and against match officials that often ends in a game being abandoned.

 

These are just a few of the issues that can change the environment at a match or cause distress to the players, but there are many others.

 

The Club is responsible for its supporters and we would ask you all to reflect on what you might do to improve the match day experience. It may be that we need to report unacceptable behaviour from the opposition supporters to the League.

 

Having been involved in youth football for many years the Club Officials are aware that issues can erupt very quickly at matches. It might be a mistake by one of the match officials or a clumsy challenge by a player. Instead of fuelling the issue we could all calm the situation down through doing something positive - perhaps asking the aggrieved person to calm down, letting the referee or the team coach deal with the issues. This is all very well but what if it is the opposition that are at fault? We should take note of the circumstances and report them to the Club. If you would prefer you can report them to the Club's Child Welfare Officer.

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Let's all try to improve the match day experience at our Club.

 

Regards,

 

Derek Harris

Club Welfare Officer

 

 

 

 

 Club President  Derek Harris | drharris@sky.com

 Club Chairman Lee Byatt | leebyatt.5156@gmail.com

                                 

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