Unrelenting abuse of referees is having a devastating impact on officials, including teenage refs, who are leaving the game in droves.
Such is the scale of the exodus at the grassroots level that there are now real fears elite football will be impacted by a shortage of referees, or a drop in quality, as the pool to choose from is drastically reduced.
The treatment of referees in the Premier League and EFL, where every decision can be questioned, has been blamed for appalling behaviour of coaches, players, parents and supporters all the way down the pyramid and age groups.