Barnet lead the way in war on abusing referees

Barnet have invited the Football Association chief executive, Brian Barwick, to witness the beneficial effects of his "respect for referees" initiative as several footballing figures backed the plans.

Barwick has proposed a new grassroots pilot scheme to encourage players to show more respect to referees, in which only the team captain will be able to speak to the match official.

However, it seems the Barnet striker Adam Birchall may have conceived the idea when, after an ill-disciplined opening four games in which the Bees received three red cards and eight yellows, he put his idea forward to the club captain Lee Harrison.

After consultation with the manager, Paul Fairclough, the initiative was implemented and the Bees have reaped the rewards both in the League Two and discipline tables.

Since the start of last month, Fairclough's side has only picked up eight yellow cards, while their form has also improved dramatically as they are unbeaten, winning four of their six games, since beginning to operate the policy.

Harrison said: "Only skipper Ismail Yakubu can talk to the referee about decisions.

"Since we started there has been one isolated case of dissent, no kicking the ball away, no crowding referees and it works for us. Just look at the results."

Barwick is hoping to introduce the initiative at grassroots level in British football and believes it is imperative for the dignity of the game.

"There is a lot of emotion and passion in the game but you only have to look at a sport like rugby to see there seems to be a certain level of respect for the officials," Barwick said.

"That sets a marker down for our game because the treatment of referees is a really serious issue and something we have to deal with."

Graham Horwood was the match official as Barnet beat Rotherham 2-0 at Underhill on Saturday and he admitted he was able to focus on controlling the game as opposed to dealing with back-chat.

"There was very little dissent from the Barnet players at all," Horwood said. "The fact that only one player – the captain – makes himself known to us makes our job a lot easier.

"There is a lot of unnecessary abuse from players that goes unnoticed by fans and that, frankly, the game can do without and I'm keen to support anything that will attract youngsters to refereeing because they will see the criticism and shouting and will inevitably be put off pursuing a career in it."

The scheme also has the backing of the England manager, Steve McClaren, who contends that a team's focus and success can be directly effected if they do not display the necessary discipline.

"If you do not have discipline you are not in control, if you are not in control it can cost you the game," McClaren said.

The Professional Footballers' Association chief executive, Gordon Taylor, also endorsed Barwick's proposal, highlighting the potential reward for teams such as Barnet who choose to implicate the scheme.

"It makes sense for clubs to want their players available for every game and while injuries can often not be helped, discipline can and anything that clubs can do to improve their record will be warmly welcomed," Taylor said.

"We can take a leaf out of rugby league's book because that is a highly-charged physical environment in which aggression could escalate at any time if there weren't that level of respect for officials," he added.