A SOMERSET referee has hit out at the county’s football association after he was left hospitalised following an incident during a game.

Ken Templeman, 67, from North Petherton, was left needing hospital treatment after he was knocked over during a game between Milverton and Tone Youth Reserves on April 5.

Mr Templeman, who has been a referee for more than 30 years, said he had been shoulder charged to the floor by a player after he didn’t give an offside decision, and subsequently sent the player off.

Mr Templeman said: “It was five minutes from the end and the score was 2-2, and Milverton had a goal kick. After it was taken, the ball went forward and one of the Tone Youth players appealed for offside, but the law states you can’t be offside from a goal kick so I waved play on and Milverton scored, making it 3-2.

“Some of the Tone Youth players were shouting at me and I pulled the captain over to talk to him about it and to tell the players to calm down. The game then restarted and one of the players run past and knocked me over.

“I got back up and sent him off, but I was really struggling for the last five minutes. After the game I was feeling really dizzy and shook up, and went home, and I had to go to hospital.

“They did some tests and checks and I had a bit of whiplash, but that was thankfully it.”

Somerset County FA, the county’s governing body for football, held a discipline hearing into the incident. Mr Templeman hadn’t received a notice about the hearing so didn’t attend, and then the player accused of charging into him was found not guilty of the charge.

Now, Mr Templeman has slammed the county FA, and has lodged a complaint with the FA’s headquarters in London, and has admitted he doesn't know if he will return to refereeing.

He said: “I never thought this would happen to me. I’ve been refereeing for about 35 years and I never dreamed something like this would happen.

“I feel terribly let down by the county FA. They said they sent me a letter for the hearing but I never received it, and now I have made a complaint to the FA in London.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous.

“I’ve been a member of the county FA for 30 years, and I just can’t believe it, I’ve been let down so badly.

“We’ve got a lot young lads and girls coming through as referees now, and I don’t want them or the players to think it’s okay to charge into them.”

Jon Pike, the chief executive of Somerset County FA, apologised to Mr Templeman.

He said: “We had sent a letter to Ken, and the chairman of the referees association, and we wrongly assumed he would be at the hearing. We did phone him up and he did offer to come straight away, but it would have taken him too long.

“An independent disciplinary panel found the player not guilty of the charge on the evidence provided to them.

“We are not blaming Ken for not turning up, it is our error and we have every respect for him, and it is not a decision against him.

“We have every respect for him. He is a good referee and does an awful lot of games, and there is no doubting his honesty or integrity.”