FORGET the Fergie hairdryer, Premier League ref Chris Foy knows what real intimidation feels like on a football pitch.

The St Helens official was at the wrong end of the first managerial rebuke of the season from the United boss following this month's Community Shield.

But having earned his stripes in the notorious North West amateur leagues he's expertly placed to judge how the FA's Respect Programme was not only needed, but is already reaping rewards.

"I started refereeing in the Warrington and District League in 1983," explains Foy (above, and in some of his controversial showdowns).

"One of my earliest experiences as a ref was being assaulted. I sent a player off and he just came up to me, hit me and knocked me to ground.

"A lot of people asked why I'd carry on after that, but it made me more determined. I wasn't going to let one isolated incident stop me."

"Now I've been a professional referee for 14 years, nine years in the Premier League, and I can tell you it can be one of the most rewarding jobs you can have.

"There was a feeling over recent years that dissent was getting worse, but with the Respect programme you can already see improvements.

"At all levels of the game you can see the impact. The number of cautions due to the dissent went down last season.

"The most obvious change is before each fixture. Before, the clubs could send any official to deliver the teamsheet.

"There were examples of managers sending their interpreters to the give their team to the referee. That didn't send a good message.

"Now both sets of managers and captains are required to present the teamsheets, and it allows relationships of mutual respect to form."

And after speaking to youngsters in Merseyside last year, there has been a 22 per cent increase in the number of young refs in the area.

Ultimately, the focus is on the Premier League.

"There's a joint responsibility," said Foy, who's firmly backing our Shut It campaign.

"There should be a sense of courtesy between players, managers and officials. But the refs know it's our job to get the big decisions right and the more we do that, the more respect we'll get."

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Ashley Mallett referees Yorkshire youth football.

BACKING - Ashley Mallett

And the 18-year-old said: "Dissent has to be stamped out. One incident sticks in my mind. I turned up at a ground and this seven-year-old kid said, 'Look, it's that stupid idiot again'.

"But I don't think the words were really his. They'd have come from his parents.

"You'll get a bit of backchat from the kids on Sundays but the parents are worse. Every club has a Sunday morning mother who will stand there and shout abuse.

"The kids will imitate that, just as they do the stars on TV. A major part of dissent is referees can become scapegoats with people making out we are ruining the game."

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