Special report: Telegraph Sport examines the appalling rise in abuse of grass-roots referees – and looks at what is being done to stop it
As a former professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter, Shane Mansfield is familiar with intense scrutiny and physical pain. But one pursuit in his life became too much to take: football refereeing.
“I considered football just a war,” Mansfield recalls. “My job was to find who the bully was, who the a---hole was. When you turn up as a referee, it’s us against them from the moment you arrive.