Soccer: Vicious attack on ref

The senior Spall Brentwood Sunday League game between Harold Wood-based Wood United and Elm Park had to be abandoned when referee Michael Cottee, from Harold Hill was shoved in the chest and kicked in the head twice.

Mr Cottee who has at least five years refereeing experience was rushed to Oldchurch Hospital by ambulance where he was treated for head injuries and later discharged.

DC Mark Haddow from Romford CID said: "This was a particularly nasty incident which left the victim unconscious and needing hospital treatment.

"We are speaking to everyone who was at the game to try and get a better picture of what happened."

Spall League official David Crook said the Wood United player has already had his league registration withdrawn and added that he would be "very surprised" if the player was not suspended by the county FA.

Mr Crook said: "We will throw our weight behind Michael and support him all the way, we will not tolerate this kind of behaviour in the league and take a dim view of such aggression.

"It is regrettable what happened but we are hoping to see Michael back on the field as soon as possible."

The attack has been blasted as "totally unacceptable" by Phil Sammons, chief executive of the Essex Football Association.

He said: "This type of behaviour has no place in our game and players must understand that assault is a criminal offence off or on the field."

He added: "We take assaults very seriously but thankfully they are not that common, but one case is one too many."

The headlines have been full of violence on the football field recently with the attack by former Sheffield Wednesday player Paulo Di Canio on referee Paul Allcock and former West Ham United striker John Hartson's attack on team mate Eyal Berkovic.

Phil Sammons says high profile players like these should set better examples for players across all leagues.

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