A CUP final referee was so sick of the fouls, fighting and four letter words from players that he blew his whistle and shouted: "Everybody off."

John Morton, who was in charge of the South Durham Bowl final at Shildon, County Durham, decided that enough was enough and, with 12 minutes to go, he abandoned the game.

Apparently, the persistent misconduct ended up in a free-for-all brawl in the 78th minute of the match between Shildon Railway and Brandon Prince Bishop.

Last night, there was a question mark over whether the important game - the score was level at one all - would be played again.

Alan Charlton, chairman of the Durham Alliance League, said: "I don't think they deserve be allowed to play a re-match. I don't think either of the teams deserve to win the trophy."

Mr Charlton, who has been involved in the league for more than 40 years, said that bad behaviour on the football pitch was a growing issue as matches descended into foul language and deliberate fouling.

Mr Morton said: "I stand by my decision and I will send my report to the Durham Football Association and they will deal with this."

Chairman of the competition, Gordon Nicholson, said: "Two or three players from both sides started fouling each other and it escalated. The referee felt that the players were more interested in getting at each other than playing football."

Mr Nicholson said the game quickly descended into general misconduct, unnecessary fouling and "a lot of nonsense".

He added: "Usually, local footballers conduct themselves better than the overpaid fairies in the Premiership. I am very disappointed."

Bob Strohpair, secretary of the South Durham Bowl Competition and chairman of the disciplinary committee of Durham County Football, said: "It was not really a fight, more just persistent misconduct throughout the game, which included fouling."

Robert Nicholson, secretary of Shildon Railway Football Club, said: "We were disgusted by the referee's decision to call off the match. The whole thing was blown out of all proportion."

Paul Stout, secretary of Brandon Prince Bishop, said he agreed.