Last updated 19:43, Thursday, 19 June 2008

MORE than 1,500 players were cautioned in Cumbrian football last season and 338 players were sent off.

The levels of verbal and, in a small number of cases physical abuse, still remain the biggest obstacle to the recruitment and retention of referees in the county.

The figures were given in the report presented for the county’s annual meeting by secretary Geoff Turrell.

He said: “If we are to reach the desired target of having a qualified match official for every affiliated game, this situation must be addressed.

“There is very little change in the high percentage of cautions issued for dissent and dismissals for foul and abusive language directed at match officials. One disturbing trend is the increase in the number of cases of this type occurring at youth level.”

The 2007/08 figure of 1,557 cautions was in fact down on the two previous years 1,596 in 2006/07 and 1,593 in 2005/06.

Red cards were up to 338 from 307 the previous season and 315 in 2005/06.

Nearly a third of the cautions (571) were to first offenders while one player has been booked more than 10 times.

Despite the on-field problems much good work is being done for the referees, mainly due to the enthusiasm of the training team led by county referee training officer, Scott Taylor.