Parents 'verbally abuse teenage female referee during youth game'

A number of parents reportedly verbally abused a young female referee during a youth match linked to former Premier League champions Manchester City.

The Under-10s youth team took on Liverpool's Litherland Tigers in a quarter-final in Blackpool, but the tie became the centre of controversy when a group of parents verbally attacked a 15-year-old match official.

According to the Manchester Evening News, a witness claimed that some of the parents called the young girl a "stupid bitch", reducing her to tears.

The newspaper quotes Litherland Tigers chairman John Ellison as saying: "We will be writing to the girl who was refereeing and her mother to apologise for what happened.

"Apparently it was something and nothing that turned into a Liverpool/Manchester thing with the two sets of parents. We will be carrying out our own internal review."

Both sides were expelled from the tournament.