The Football Association is to introduce cooling-off periods in grassroots football in acknowledgment that more must be done to contain bad behaviour at that level. Selected leagues are to trial the system this year, a move that will allow referee to order players of both teams to stop and retreat to their penalty area in order to prevent “escalation during heated moments in a match”.
During 2023-24, the latest season for which figures are available, the FA received 4,277 allegations of serious misconduct at grassroots level, a 13% increase on the previous year. The governing body is committed to “creating safe, respectful and inclusive environments” in the grassroots game, according to its director of football development, James Kendall.
