I’m giving up on beautiful game that turned ugly

I’VE been a Liverpool supporter for 63 years, but won’t be renewing my season ticket because football is no longer the sport I recognise or have respect for.

Players feign injury, direct abuse at match officials, waste time on an industrial level and ignore the rules of the game — and are allowed to get away with it.

When was the last time players were given a yellow card for surrounding the referee after a decision they disagree with?

How many times during a game is a player left screaming in agony from a tackle, but is then able to run about like a young gazelle once the free kick is given?

Cheating is the acceptable norm, with not an eyebrow raised in concern by pundits.

The managerial giants of the game in previous decades would not have allowed histrionics.

Liverpool’s manager Jurgen Klopp is a brilliant tactician who has a strong connection to the club and fans, but his behaviour towards officials is embarrassing.

As a child, I often waited outside the players’ entrance at Anfield with my autograph book and pen. I was overjoyed when the players took a few seconds to give me their signature.

I got them all: Best, Charlton, Matthews, Banks and Moore. Today, players arrive at grounds in luxurious coaches with blacked out windows.

Why have I given up on football? It was after I saw a video of Leeds United players wearing sunglasses and headphones while engrossed in their phones walking past fans without acknowledging them. One youngster called out the names of players, but was totally ignored.

STEPHEN ANDERSON, Hartford, Cheshire.

PREMIER League matches are being decided by inches in offside decisions by VAR.

But how many times do match officials allow throw-ins to be taken yards from where the ball went out of play?

ALAN WARD, Sleaford, Lincs.