Referee bodycam trial to deter abuse has ‘changed behaviour’ in grassroots game

Referee body cameras designed to deter abusive behaviour from players and coaches are already yielding positive results, with no official having felt cause to activate the kit in the first six weeks of operation.

The cameras are being used at four county Football Associations in England as part of a trial which will run for the rest of this season and the whole of next term in the adult grassroots game.

The camera does not record footage of an entire match. Instead, the referee can activate it at the click of a button should they feel it necessary. Everything which follows is recorded from the referee’s perspective, plus the 30 seconds prior to activation.

“It’s changed behaviour, 100 per cent,” referee Sophie Wood said at half-time of her match between Redcar CF and Southern Cross in the Manjaros Langbaurgh Football League Division One on Sunday.

“My view on the cameras is that it’s there as a deterrent, and that’s definitely what I have found it to be doing so far.

“It’s then obviously the safety element – if you do feel your safety is in danger, then that’s when you’re going to activate the camera. I’m seeing a lot of much friendlier players, day to day!”

Approximately 100 referees are expected to wear the cameras within the first three months of the trial.

A BBC survey in February found 293 officials had been physically abused by spectators, players, coaches or managers out of 927 Referees’ Association members who responded to a survey.

The figure who had experienced verbal abuse was much higher – 908 out of 927.

Wood said she felt “lucky” not to have been on the receiving end of significant abuse in her nine-year refereeing career.

“I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve felt my safety has been endangered,” she said.

“But I know that some of the referees in the county have had that.

“Obviously with the increase of videos being shared on social media we know that week in, week out, referees’ safety is being compromised at grassroots football.

“I definitely think, post-Covid, players’ behaviour does seem to have declined slightly from what I’ve seen first hand, but I definitely think the rollout of this technology will help control that.”

Wood says players have been curious about the cameras in the three matches she has used it in to date.

“There was maybe a bit of an assumption that it will be filming for the whole game initially,” she said.

“Once it’s been explained, they have all taken to it quite well and have been excited to be part of the trial.

“I’ve made it very clear to the captains at the beginning: ‘This is the sort of thing I will be looking to deploy the camera for. Please just take care of your players as you would if the camera wasn’t here’.”

Mohammed Ghafoor, like Wood a referee for the North Riding County FA, said: “You don’t even have to point to the camera. You don’t even have to mention the camera.

“People’s behaviour has just changed. It’s fantastic to be in the middle of the pitch and to actually officiate again.”

Daniel Meeson, the head of technical and referee development in the FA’s referees department, said the trial was a key pillar in efforts to improve participant behaviour and assist in the recruitment and retention of referees.

“The feedback has generally been very, very positive,” he said.

“We’ve not had any activations yet, which is encouraging in itself.”

Meeson said the FA is also looking at stronger sanctions, including the possibility of points deductions for persistent offenders and their clubs.

“We shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that 99.9 per cent of games are played up and down this country every single weekend that go without incidents, but one incident is still too much,” he said.

“That’s why we’re exploring the use of body cameras and other areas. (Abuse of officials) is not having a detrimental effect on recruitment so far.

“We have 29,000 referees in this country. Of course, we want to grow that, we want to add to it.

“We also want to make sure that we’re retaining referees, and if you are a referee that does encounter sadly a bad experience or a negative encounter in your refereeing, we’re working really hard with them to make sure that we don’t lose them and we retain them within the referee community.”