GRASSROOTS football social media has exploded with an outpouring of appreciation for a volunteer referee named Percy, who is still going strong in the centre circle aged 87.
A post made by Team Grassroots (@Teamgrassroots_) on X shared Percy’s story after he refereed a match in St Ives on Saturday 27th September, with the tweet reaching over 215,000 views.
https://twitter.com/Teamgrassroots_/status/1972348331037741237
Percy, aged 87, began his refereeing career at kids grassroots level in 1973, the same year that London Bridge was opened and Pink Floyd released their album “Dark Side of the Moon.
The experienced volunteer takes to the pitch every weekend to officiate youth matches in his local area, having used his weekends to give back to his local community over the last 50 years.
The post’s comment section saw an outpouring of love for the veteran referee with one comment reading: “Take a bow Percy. It’s people like him that need recognition from the FA and mainstream media interviews.”
Others linked the feel-good story to the professional game, with several suggested he would do a better job than referee’s in both the EFL Championship and even the Irish leagues to “show our referees a thing or two.”
Team Grassroots call themselves ‘The UK’s No.One Grassroots Football Organisation’ and since starting up in 2014 have grown to have a following of 97,400 fans on X, as they share both feel good, newsworthy and upsetting stories from across grassroots football.
Their posts often galvanise a community of support for those volunteers and players across the football pyramid, with many young referees receiving words of support following difficult matches.
With grassroots football struggling to recruit referees, sharing stories like Percy’s and seeing the support online, more people may just start their own journey and get signed up!
Be more Percy.
