Just a month after trying to talk colleague Leroy Wilson out of quitting at the end of the season, soccer referee Lyndon Raynor is set to pack it in himself.

The Grade One official, who is also vice-president of Bermuda Referees Association, confirmed his decision in the wake of Sunday's incident at St.

John's Field where ref Anthony Mouchette was struck by a bottle thrown by Boulevard player Haile Outerbridge.

Referees and linesmen are feeling increasingly vulnerable with the latest incident convincing Raynor, who was one of Mouchette's assistants on Sunday, to step down.

Raynor said: "I will fulfill my obligations for the season and then that's it. For all intents and purposes I will not be refereeing next season.'' Raynor has been refereeing about seven years and has quickly become one of the Island's top officials.

"I love this game and Bermuda needs this game as much as this game needs Bermuda because it does a lot for the social aspect,'' said Raynor. "But until the powers that be sit down and sort out what's going on we will never accomplish anything.

"To go out there and be subjected to threats, violence and abuse -- one just gets tired of it.'' Bermuda Referees Association have expressed their concerns about violence with Bermuda Football Association, with the matter of beer being served in bottles being an issue for years.

On Sunday such a bottle was easily accessible to Outerbridge as he walked off the field after being ejected for a second yellow card, both for altercations with Devonshire Colts players.

"Do the fans throw bottles at their players when they miss an open goal?,'' Raynor asked. "Do fans throw bottles at their players when a mis-directed pass results in a goal? No.

"So why are bottles thrown at people who are just there to try to administer the law? At the end of the day it comes down to interpretation and you have to respect that it's the referee's job.'' Wilson was the referee when fighting broke out in last month's league match between Vasco and Devonshire Cougars as he sent off three Cougars players, brothers Wendell and Ryan Swan and Galvin Butterfield.

Raynor made a public appeal for Wilson, who was ironically the fourth official in Sunday's match, to reconsider his decision to quit.

But yesterday he said: "I could not even go out right now and ask someone to come and referee because of what they have to go through. They are better off going and playing golf on a Sunday afternoon.

Added Raynor: "To be a referee you have to referee from the heart, it's not about money and rewards. How can you continue to do something when, for every call you make, you have another set of 11 people disagreeing? "If players were honest with themselves and came prepared to play soccer it would make our jobs a lot easier.'' Demoralised: Lyndon Raynor (right) intends to quit refereeing at the end of the season.