Referees have threatened to withdraw from Island soccer matches if there is any repeat of the violence that has marred the opening days of this season.

As well as a plethora of sendings off since play got underway just a few short weeks ago, there have also been two serious incidents of crowd trouble.

At the recent Martonmere Cup match between North Village and Somerset, fans attacked the Trojans coach and player Paul Maybury, after Maybury had knocked out Village's Vernon Tankard and been dismissed.

Then on Friday night during the match between Devonshire Cougars and Devonshire Colts bottles were thrown onto the pitch when referee George O'Brien awarded a penalty against Cougars.

The official threatened to abandon the game if the trouble continued.

Now president of the Bermuda Referees' Association Lyndon Raynor has said enough is enough.

Raynor said there was a shortage of officials as it was, without such incidents which only served to put off anyone considering taking up the whistle.

"We had a bottle throwing incident last year where the Referees' Association decided we were not having that and we actually, with the blessing of the BFA, cancelled games for a whole weekend,'' he said.

"My personal feeling, and I haven't had a chance to meet with the rest of the referee's executive or the referees themselves, is that I would have no problem in calling it a day for a couple of weeks -- not just one week -- because as has been said before people can do a whole lot of other things on a Sunday afternoon than go and be subject to physical abuse.'' At the end of Friday night's game, referee O'Brien also had to sit through 10 minutes of verbal volleys from an irate Cougars follower who had approached the official's room.

Among the more printable accusations were that O'Brien was "worthless'' and "should be ashamed of himself'' for the way he officiated.

Raynor said this was another area that needed addressing with some urgency.

"For me it goes beyond safety of my officials, it goes to the safety of the players as well,'' he said. "Having been a FIFA referee and having done some games overseas there are such stringent security measures in place that if those same standards were to be applied to Bermuda, without them having to bend rules for us, we would never have a game played here.'' Raynor said the ease of which fans could approach officials and players alike had to be looked at.

"I have stated over and over that we have got to start teaching people that you cannot run onto the field when your team scores a goal,'' he said by means of an example.

"Just last Sunday I saw a clip of a game between Village and Somerset and a Village supporter came onto the field waving a flag. That cannot happen because with today's climate people react differently to being taunted and some day someone is going to get seriously hurt.

"I know clubs are not in an economic state to ensure their grounds are properly secured but the plea I send out to fans and club officials is that we have to do more than just offer lip service as far as security is concerned.'' Raynor said no ground on the Island could escape criticism.

"We have problems at the National Stadium. That is supposed to be the premier ground of the country and we have security problems there,'' he said. People had put up with "sub-standard facilities'' for too long and it had to stop, he said.

"Personally, I've been verbally abused, I've been physically abused, I've had property damaged but for some stupid reason my love of the game keeps me going back,'' he said.

"But that is slowly coming to an end. I'm thinking I don't need this. On a Sunday afternoon I can go and play some golf and the only person I have to blame afterwards is myself.

"I have been confronted days after the game over decisions I have made. We have got to learn, especially in amateur soccer here in Bermuda, that yes everybody likes to win but at the same time none of my officials goes out there deliberately to cheat.'' Reiterating his threat to pull out of matches if the climate didn't change Raynor said: "We would have no hesitation in telling the BFA that the Bermuda Referees' Association will not be going to officiate.'' BFA president Neville Tyrrell said the latest incident would be investigated and the findings made public.

Lyndon Raynor: disillusioned.