A football manager who was attacked by an angry father after dropping his son from the team has branded the police caution he received ‘ridiculous’.

Dean Kingshott, 39, had only been in charge of the Evergreen FC reserve side for two weeks when the decision to leave one of the players out resulted in him being punched, head-butted and hit with a corner flag.

The former Spurs, Watford and Barnet youth team player who now works for Barnet Council was left with a badly bruised face following the incident last Saturday (September 15) at the club’s home in South Way, Abbots Langley.

His attacker, a 40-year-old man from Abbots Langley, left the scene but was tracked down by police and arrested three days later. He was issued with a police caution for assault and causing ABH.

Mr Kingshott, who lives in Watford Fields, insisted the attacker was a stranger to him and denied there had been any animosity between him and the footballer, 18, or any of his team-mates.

Discussing the sentence, he said: “It’s ridiculous to only give him a caution, I have got a massive red bruise on my cheek from where he threw a punch at me.

“It’s just a joke, the FA have come in to investigate it now.

“I said to his son, are you eight or 18? You had to get your dad to come and fight your battles for you.

“The dad wasn’t even at the game, he was apparently down at the pub until his son called.

“I went to Watford police station and the police told me they took account of his previous good character and let him off with a caution.”

A Hertfordshire Constabulary spokesman said the offender received a police caution for assault and ABH.

The incident left Mr Kingshott questioning whether to continue managing the side, but he says his passion for the club was the deciding factor in his decision to stay.

He said: “On the day I thought nothing of it, but when I tried to get to sleep that night, my brain was buzzing and I thought ‘do I need to be a part of this?’.

“I still think Evergreen is a fantastic club, I have been involved with them for a long time and up to then I have had no trouble whatsoever.

“I am going to carry on, the father has been banned from the club, but it just puts fear into your mind, amateur football shouldn’t be about this.

“There is so much good that can come from amateur football, but this sort of thing undermines the efforts of the whole club.”

The attack has already been condemned by club officials including Chairman Ron Smith who branded it “very, very serious”.

He commented: “Having been at the club for over 20 years it is one of the worst cases I have had to deal with.

“It is very difficult to find good coaches and officials to give up their spare time to help organise football in the area.

“Dean was working as a match official at the time of the incident.

“A full report following the investigation will be given to Herts FA when complete. I will also be asking the FA for guidance throughout the hearing.”

Hertfordshire FA spokesman Andy Burrows said: “We are aware of the alleged incident and are investigating the matter.”