Violence in Adult Club Football

[Milltown Row2]

Each incident should be dealt with on its own merits, should the ref be lucky enough with having other officials with him then he can get more, but be rest assured he'll not see everything or be able to control it on his own.. so generally he'll always get the the first man in, after that it's generally a free for all! Impossible unless in front of him..

I've pulled many a mentor over the years about their language and how they tell their players to deal with him, or take him out! Rotten and generally the same teams

[JoG2]

1 rule needed to stop brawls. 3rd person in automatic red card and 6 month ban. Soon put the brakes on all out melees.

I think the idea sounds great, but what if a young player is getting a real hammering from his opponent, surely running in and trying to stop it shouldn't result in a 6 month ban.

It doesn't sound great at all. The 3rd man in shouldn't carry the can for the trampy behaviour of the 4th, 5th, nth man in. Also, as you sort of point out, the 3rd man mightn't actually be doing much wrong. Each individual's actions have to be viewed and punished consistently. A punch being thrown when there are 2 men involved is the same as a punch being thrown when there are 30 men involved and it must be punished equally. If we are to increase the punishment for striking, it must be all striking. If the GAA wanted to show that fighting won't be tolerated, 6 months automatically for striking would begin to tackle the problem. Seems harsh in the current environment but if you have a problem and you want it sorted, you put a bloody big deterrent in place and punish the shite outta people. It would initially be a bit of a culture shock but eventually it would just be accepted as the norm.

The 3rd man in red card is already in place. Think the suspension is min 1 game and then whatever the ref has in his report

[David McKeown]

Two players fighting has f**k all to do with a ref, players running on to the pitch has nothing to do with the ref.. 30 players wanting to fight it out, again nothing to do with the ref..

A ref making a 'mistake' (in the eyes of a player) does not mean they can knock shite out of each other.. once people understand that then we can talk sense. The stupid age old cry of ' you caused that ref' is said by stupid people

I've played football and hurling well into my 40's, I've never hit anyone because of the ref

I don't entirely agree that refs are always blameless. I've been involved in plenty of games where referees have contributed to escalating tensions. Is it their fault? No but they definitely can contribute. To give an example. We had a soccer match last year to pick up the league title. The opposition were determined to spoil the party by fair means or foul. As the game continued the tackles got far worse to the point they were dangerous yet the ref issued no cards or warnings. When we spoke to the ref about this the response came "sure you are Champions only right they get to have a go". About ten minutes from the end our best player was the victim of a fifth or sixth two footed lunge from the same opposition player. The ref sent him off. On the way off he ran over to the kid whose leg he just broke and started punching him "for getting him sent off" . Now the violence was the players fault but it could have been easily avoided had the referee done his job properly. So I don't agree that referees are always blameless.

There are incidents of violence which will occur regardless of the referee but there are others that can be avoided if a referee is fair and consistent

[Milltown Row2]

Two players fighting has f**k all to do with a ref, players running on to the pitch has nothing to do with the ref.. 30 players wanting to fight it out, again nothing to do with the ref..

A ref making a 'mistake' (in the eyes of a player) does not mean they can knock shite out of each other.. once people understand that then we can talk sense. The stupid age old cry of ' you caused that ref' is said by stupid people

I've played football and hurling well into my 40's, I've never hit anyone because of the ref

I don't entirely agree that refs are always blameless. I've been involved in plenty of games where referees have contributed to escalating tensions. Is it their fault? No but they definitely can contribute. To give an example. We had a soccer match last year to pick up the league title. The opposition were determined to spoil the party by fair means or foul. As the game continued the tackles got far worse to the point they were dangerous yet the ref issued no cards or warnings. When we spoke to the ref about this the response came "sure you are Champions only right they get to have a go". About ten minutes from the end our best player was the victim of a fifth or sixth two footed lunge from the same opposition player. The ref sent him off. On the way off he ran over to the kid whose leg he just broke and started punching him "for getting him sent off" . Now the violence was the players fault but it could have been easily avoided had the referee done his job properly. So I don't agree that referees are always blameless.

There are incidents of violence which will occur regardless of the referee but there are others that can be avoided if a referee is fair and consistent

And clearly that ref was a p***k, but players management should control their players and not heightened the issues before walking out onto the pitch..

Look I'm not saying all refs are great at controlling a game but in the main, it's players who start fighting

[Tony Baloney]

The Down football match putting a new spin on the usual "spectators jumping the wire."

[paddyjohn]

The Down football match putting a new spin on the usual "spectators jumping the wire."

Mental stuff. Disgusting! This was a replay after the first game was abandoned due to boxing!

[dublin7]

The Down football match putting a new spin on the usual "spectators jumping the wire."

That wasn't handbags either. Some serious punches thrown and I'm surprised no one got seriously hurt.

It sounds terrible but until someone does get seriously hurt the GAA won't do anything about it.

Even if they issue multiple suspensions to the players from the the 2 club's in down you know both clubs will appeal the suspensions on the grounds like the i wasn't dotted on the ref's  report or some other ridiculous technicality. Goes on all over the country from junior club's all the way up to and including inter county teams.

[The Trap]

Do any of the GAA top brass see these videos?  Do they have any thoughts? Would they care to share them?
Or are they too worried about ways to make more money?

[Tony Baloney]

The Down football match putting a new spin on the usual "spectators jumping the wire."

Mental stuff. Disgusting! This was a replay after the first game was abandoned due to boxing!

May do like soccer and play behind closed doors.

[trailer]

Shocking scenes. That was worse than what went on in Vegas and look at the press reaction to that. It's over to the DCB now.

[Wildweasel74]

Now thats as bad as anything i seen in a long time! Literally started between 2 clowns in the stand! Kick both teams down a division be the sorta punishment that would only work there! Its obvious minor fines and clubs contesting suspensions handed out to any player is not the solution to preventing these scenes reoccuring!

[Wildweasel74]

On another matter this could nearly be a 6 county thread! Either theres a inferior complex happening or every clown running round thinking hes Conor McGregor

[thejuice]

At the very least this shite is just embarrassing to look at. We have many detractors around these days and this just plays into their hands. Wild uncivilized boggers. Living up to the stereotypes.

[BennyHarp]

The Down football match putting a new spin on the usual "spectators jumping the wire."

Mental stuff. Disgusting! This was a replay after the first game was abandoned due to boxing!

Was it not a league game? Why would they bother replaying a league game if the first game was abandoned due to fighting? Madness!

[Tony Baloney]

What I don't understand is why the players needed to get involved with a few lads laying on a few slaps.