The irony was not lost that 24 hours after one of Merseyside’s most prominent junior leagues sanctioned the cancellation of every single of one of their fixtures to raise awareness of the abuse their referees receive, that two of football’s best and most high-profile managers were caught behaving far from perfectly in English football’s most high-profile match.
The Merseyside Youth Football League took the ‘drastic action’ following what they called ‘multiple incidents of inappropriate and threatening behaviour’. It left hundreds and hundreds of young footballers, playing for teams ranging from under-7s through to under-17s, without a game on Saturday.
It was a decision the league did not take lightly but, in the words of secretary Stacey Savage, “we want people to take a look at themselves and make them realise that they caused this”.
