THE new 2017/18 Bolton, Bury and District Football League season is in full swing with fantastic games involving 650 teams, close on 10,000 players, coaches and committed referees.

It is great to report the success of our summer season involving our under-7s to u11s at various venues.

It is worth noting no Saturday morning games were postponed due to weather in the summer programme which concludes on October 21.

With a league the size of the BBDFL and age groups going up to u21s, history shows there will always be a minority of on-field or off-field incidents.

In partnership with our clubs, the county FAs (CFA) and our welfare department, they are dealt with decisively and fairly.

It is important to stress it is a minority of incidents, but one is too many.

The start of our new season has been very disappointing in terms of discipline with three games in the older age groups abandoned and two in the younger age groups seeing poor behaviour by parents on the sidelines.

All incidents are now subject to CFA investigation, and one game in particular was the subject of a police enquiry and made the local and national media.

The BBDFL now adopts a zero tolerance policy, whereby any game abandoned by a referee for indiscipline, and/or reports of proven indiscipline on or off the field, will result in the teams involved having their fixtures suspended until the league is comfortable the clubs involved have taken their own internal action.

I am delighted with the co-operation of the clubs involved in these incidents, as all have taken their own action against the teams and parents involved, together with the league’s decision to suspend fixtures.

In partnership with the league and the CFA, the clubs are taking their own action appropriately and decisively over incidents of poor discipline.

It would be of great regret to see a team leave the league as we always pride ourselves on reducing numbers of disciplinary incidents year on year.

However, the league committee may have no choice but to ask a team to leave should the incident be proven and deemed serious enough.

The decision maker is the referee and his or her report is final. They provide details of incidents to our general secretary and the CFA who decide if it warrants further investigation.

All clubs have been informed of our zero tolerance policy and we will be looking to introduce a rule whereby reports of poor discipline and abandoned games will result in the postponement of team fixtures with immediate effect.

The decision will rest with the league committee based on a referee’s report and witness statements.

It is important to stress these incidents are in the minority and it is also important to continue to provide the necessary education, particularly to those guilty of poor parental behaviour.

It has been refreshing to see the league’s board, committee, clubs, referees and the CFA working in partnership to reach swift conclusions on matters of poor discipline. Zero tolerance is a major league objective.