We have launched new infographics tracking the number of incidents in grassroots football across two key areas of the game – discipline & discrimination.

As a County FA, we have a responsibility to lead, protect and support participants in grassroots football within the County of Middlesex.

Part of this responsibility, as delegated by The Football Association, is taking disciplinary action over red and yellow cards on the field of play and raising misconduct charges relating to more serious incidents outside the authority of the referee. We also play a key role in supporting our network of volunteer Club Secretaries and Welfare Officers across the County to manage poor practice and low level concerns regarding behaviour in youth football. 

As an organisation our core values are to be Committed, Connected, Collaborative & Creative.

To be connected, we must champion transparency. To be transparent, we believe it is important to be proactive in sharing the progress made towards reducing poor behaviour on and off the pitch. 

Daniel May, Head of Football Services at Middlesex FA, commented: “Unfortunately, the level of discipline cases continues to remain at a high level, however, the County FA are taking proactive measures to try and help reduce these figures, with the implementation of our Football Watch programme which launched in September 2023. 

"One of the major concerns is relating to the number of threatening cases towards Match Officials which has risen from four proven charges for the entire of last season to 13 charges being issued just in 6 months this season.”

We hope that releasing these figures will allow the wider footballing community to understand the issues we currently face and an opportunity for us all to make positive change on and off the field.   

Our commitment going forward is to provide regular reports across the season (December & May) and provide comparisons against previous years statistics.

For more information about tackling misconduct and discrimination in grassroots football, please contact the Middlesex FA Discipline team, via email – discipline@middlesexfa.com 

For any queries regarding Safeguarding please contact our Designated Safeguarding Officer, Rebecca Chapman, on rebecca.chapman@middlesexfa.com. Alternatively, please visit our dedicated Discipline and Safeguarding pages.

See the images below to view the full reports.