THE Centregreat Taunton & District Saturday Football League is facing a refereeing crisis.

It was forced to postpone three fixtures last weekend, including Wellington A’s game at North Curry, due to an unprecedented shortage of match officials, prompting the league's chairman Colin Hill to issue a stark warning about the future of grassroots football in Somerset and the systemic failures driving referees away from the game.

For a league that has proudly defied the national downward trend, the postponements mark a sobering milestone. In a statement Hill, a former top-flight referee, expressed his deep frustration over a crisis he says has been years in the making.

He said: “We have been, I believe, the one remaining junior league that has always had a full contingent of referees. At the weekend, we were forced to cancel three fixtures because of no availability. The one thing in our favour is that clubs in this league are the most versatile in Somerset. But is it a blip? I doubt it.”

Hill did not shy away from pointing to the governing bodies. He argues the structural approach taken by the Football Association and the County FAs has fundamentally disconnected them from the officials they oversee.

“The responsibility for referees, apart from league appointments, rests with the FA and County FAs. Referees are effectively their employees, so they must bear the responsibility for this’,”

Hill explained. “Five years ago, I warned we were heading for serious problems, and nobody listened. Do they have the resources? Have they the trained manpower? Do they even think there is a problem? This needs to be answered before we accuse anyone directly.”

However, the chairman remains adamant the crisis can be reversed, provided governing bodies are willing to change their approach.

Within his own jurisdiction, Hill confirmed that the League is already looking at internal solutions to prevent further cancellations.