PLAYERS and officials in Kent football are being warned that the game is teetering on the brink of a full-blown crisis over referee recruitment.

The abuse of referees is the main reason why so many of them are turning their back on the game.

Dwindling numbers have forced John Newson, the county's referees' supremo and director of the Kent County FA, to concede that unless there is an upturn in recruitment, hundreds more games will go uncovered.

Last season, the county started with 1,320 referees. This term the figure is 1,273.

And while the latest edition of the KCFA handbook contains the names of over 1,300 referees, from international level down to level eight, the figures are misleading as a staggering 50 per cent are making themselves unavailable for weekend appointments.

The shortage is impacting on the Go Travel Kent and British Engegy Kent County Leagues while in park football, Saturday and Sunday Junior senior sections, which once enjoyed linesmen, are having to sacrifice the luxury so officials can take charge of games elsewhere.

Mr Newson, the Kent County Football Association's Referees' Officer, said the problem was not so much about Kent running out of referees, more one of a shortage of new referees.

He cited constant abuse as the chief reason why so many are making themselves unavailable and called on a change in attitude on the part of club officials and players towards referees.

"The warning signs are there for all to see," he said. "The worsening situation is heaping intense pressure on local referees' associations who must somehow attract, train and retain new members while urging them to use their qualification rather than sitting at home.

"Unless they succeed then the situation will become critical in the next five years. The Kent League is starting to suffer as they struggle to get linesmen while the Kent County League, Premier Division are unable to guarantee linesmen every week.

"At the moment we're just about getting by because a number of referees and linesmen are postponing retirement. We have one linesman who is soldiering on at the age of 71 while many others are well into their 50s and 60s.

"Yet you hear club officials moaning about referees and their assistants being too old and not being fit enough. Well if these guys all decided to call it a day at the same time, we would be in serious trouble."

"I just wish players would channel their energies into beating the opposition instead of constantly baiting referees," he added. "The referee is not the enemy he is there to serve the game.

"My message is simple: if you abuse them then you'll lose them. But then the problem has as much to do with society as anything else."