Sixty-one Premier League players have been booked for dissent this season amid the worrying trend of rising abuse towards referees.
Two grassroots officials bravely opened up to Mail Sport's It's All Kicking Off podcast this week about some shocking incidents they have been involved in over the years.
Both aged 25, one revealed he was threatened with a knife, while the other suffered a broken jaw after sending someone off in a five-a-side match.
Podcast co-hosts Ian Ladyman and Chris Sutton were stunned by the revelations, and agreed that football needs to take responsibility, with former Premier League winner Sutton insisting that change has to come from the very top of the game.
But this season's top flight statistics make for concerning reading, with 61 players shown a yellow card for dissent once.
There have been 88 bookings in total for dissent in 2023-24, and Fulham sit top of the 'Hall of Shame' table, having had 11 yellow cards for dissent in their opening 12 league matches.
They are followed by Newcastle and Tottenham (8 apiece), with West Ham and Wolves just behind them (both 7).
At the other end of the spectrum, Manchester City and Everton have only picked up one booking each for dissent.
When it comes to individual players, West Ham's Lucas Paqueta, Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson and Newcastle midfielder Sean Longstaff have all received three bookings for this reason.
There are then nine different players, including Bruno Fernandes and James Maddison, that have all been booked twice for talking back to match officials.
It is not just players that are guilty of crossing the line when it comes to speaking to referees.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag and Fulham's Marco Silva have been booked three times for challenging refereeing decisions.
Ten Hag is set to serve a ban for United's first game back after the international break against Everton.
Meanwhile, five other managers on a list that includes Pep Guardiola, Mikel Arteta and Mauricio Pochettino have been shown two yellow cards each.
Arteta and Pochettino were involved in high-profile spats with referees earlier this month, with the Arsenal boss labelling the decision to allow Anthony Gordon's goal in Newcastle's 1-0 win against his side 'a disgrace'. He has been charged by the FA for his comments.
Pochettino had to be held back at the end of Chelsea's 4-4 draw with Manchester City in the final game before the international break after storming onto the pitch to complain about the amount of added time at the end of the match.
Jurgen Klopp and Ange Postecoglou have also received cards for their touchline behaviour.
Premier League referee Peter Bankes has shown double the number of yellow cards (16) for dissent than any of his peers.
He took charge of Tottenham's chaotic late comeback win over Sheffield United in September, which saw 12 yellow cards and one red card handed out, although these were not all for dissent.
Next on the list is Rob Jones with eight, one clear of Stuart Atwell who has dished out seven.
