The average Premier League football referee can expect a wide range of verbal abuse on a normal Saturday afternoon.“Who’s the w in the black?” is one of many choice serenades, sung and chanted rhythmically in unison by the 30,000-strong crowd.

Yet the poor beggar with the whistle will have run further than most of the players, been subjected to more abuse than the visiting team’s most evil assassin, had his decisions analysed in slow motion from 10 cameras, and all for one-and-a-half per cent of the wages earned by the top stars.

I have been a qualified referee for more than 30 years. Like many, I got my badge in case the scheduled ref was injured or didn’t turn up. In the interim, I have spent more time playing and coaching than whistling, but have managed to send off a linesman, a manager and a psychopathic parent.

No wonder local leagues are facing a crisis. I prefer the safety of giving the half-time team talk to the Exeter University first XI every Saturday afternoon. Two of our best local refs have already hung up their whistles this season in disgust at the abuse from players and managers. Another (ex FA cup semi-final ref, so he was not a wimp) abandoned a game after 25 minutes of invective and dissent.

The best contribution to the 2002 citizenship curriculum would be if schools supported all interested pupils, future internationals or team fans, to qualify as referees. They would develop considerable social skill, have a cardiovascular system like an ox, and learn the true meaning of the word “unruly”.

So, good luck to Abby Combes for putting her whistle where her mouth is. I look forward to watching Abby referee the FA cup final in a few years between Manchester United and my team, Sheffield Wednesday, who will win 6-0 - the half-time entertainment will be flying pigs.

Ted Wragg is professor of education at Exeter University