Football ref says player he threatened to red card 'knocked him to the ground' during game

An amateur football referee claims he was hurt after being knocked to the ground during a game by a player who told him 'the sun was in my eyes'. Pete Carden has taken charge of more than 3,500 games across Greater Manchester in a decades-long career.

The 72-year-old former postman says he was sworn at during a game earlier this year. He claims he was then knocked to the floor by a player, suffering a torn thigh muscle. Mr Carden also says he suffered pain in his neck, chest and back.

Mr Carden, from Whitefield, Bury, says he submitted an 'extraordinary incident report' to Manchester Football Association (FA) within two days. He claims he did not hear from officials until around three months later.

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Mr Carden says he was asked to answer a series of questions about the alleged incident, but didn't hear anything back until last month. He claims he was told at a meeting the FA had missed the deadline for dealing with the alleged attack by a day-and-a-half.

Now Mr Carden says he has submitted a formal complaint to FA headquarters in London about the handling of the case locally.

The Manchester Evening News understands Manchester FA investigated the case and charged the player concerned, but that he did not respond. At that point, the matter should have been heard in the player's absence, but it wasn't and now the case is 'out of time'.

Manchester FA chief executive Colin Bridgford said: "We are in contact with Mr Carden and will continue to offer him our full support and we will work with the Football Association in respect of this matter."

Speaking about the alleged incident, Mr Carden said: "It was near the end of the game and I had given