Zero tolerance needed to stamp out abuse towards refs - Alan Kelly

New years can often mark brand new chapters and for Alan Kelly, 2022 kickstarts a fresh phase in his career.

In mid-December, the Corkman called time on 27 years as a referee which has seen him officiate in the League of Ireland, MLS, UEFA club competitions and FIFA tournaments.

The 46-year-old is remaining Stateside as he starts a new role as the Senior Referees Manager for the Professional Referees Organisation which is headed up by former Premier League match official Howard Webb.

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This week, Kelly joined us on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast to talk in-depth about the factors that prompted retirement, what he learned during eight years in Major League Soccer and also broke down the Video Assistant Referee process given his experience of using the technology on the pitch and as the official in the VAR booth.

But he also touched on the issue of abuse towards match officials and how that is proving a deterrent to attracting newcomers into the profession.

Domestically, the issue reared its head in the North Dublin Schoolboys/Schoolgirls Soccer League (NDSL) when all matches in the second week of November were suspended over concerns about constant, and worsening, abuse being suffered by referees.

It's not a problem solely confined to this island of course or to any particular level of the game and Kelly spoke of the concern about the impact it has on aspiring referees who may turn away from the profession as a result.

"It's already proving to be a deterrent for people taking up refereeing," he said.

"Unfortunately, it's always been there. I suffered physical abuse as a referee in my younger days [and] it's not a nice place to be, especially when you're refereeing a game on your own with no assistant referees or