Playing in a local sports league can be a great way to get out with friends, enjoy some exercise, and just have fun.

What would you do if a rival team got upset with you and made a false accusation to the league saying that you threatened and pushed a ref?

That is what happened to the coach in this story, so he gathered all the evidence and not only got found not guilty, but got several people from the other team banned for multiple games.

Check it out.

They tried to get me banned… and got themselves banned instead

So here’s the story: I coach a Sunday league football (soccer) team here in the UK, and if you know anything about Sunday league, you know it’s full of blokes playing awful football, mud, banter, and drama.

Basically, it’s 22 men pretending they’re Premier League stars but with beer bellies and questionable fitness.

But it’s a great laugh!

Well, a couple of months ago, things reached peak drama when our rival team, led by their coach Steve Carter (names changed for anonymity), filed a complaint about me to the local county FA.

Their accusations?

Wow, that is a pretty serious accusation.

They said I’d sworn at the assistant referee (who’s also one of their players), threatened him, and even pushed him.

Naturally, I was devastated.

As a family man, I pride myself on setting a good example for my team.

The idea that I’d behave like that on the pitch?

Absolutely ridiculous.

Now, to give you some context: there’s a rivalry between our teams.

Sports rivalries can be a lot of fun.

I’m new to the area, so I don’t know exactly why they hate us, but it’s a small town, and everyone knows everyone, so maybe some ancient feud between players is still bubbling under the surface.

Add to that the fact that the game was played on opposition’s home pitch (which I can only describe as a cow field with goalposts) and refereed by one of their players, and you’ve got the setup for a Sunday league classic.

When the county FA (Football Association) got the complaint, I knew they’d take it seriously.

The FA doesn’t mess around with this sort of thing.

But honestly, when the complaint landed, my club was in absolute disbelief.

Nobody could believe I was being accused of such nonsense.

And I was immediately suspended until proven innocent.

In the lead-up to the hearing, I made sure to prepare properly.

I got all my players to write up detailed statements about what they saw and heard during the match.

We threw everything in there, even the small things that might not seem significant at first glance.

If they were going to come after us, we were going to make sure we presented a stronger, more thorough case in response.

Basically, we decided to play their game but play it better.

Fast forward to the hearing a month or so later: I showed up acting like a defense lawyer.

Never go into a hearing unprepared.

I was prepared, with multiple witness statements from my team backing up my version of events.

Their assistant ref, Dan Carter, who was supposedly the “victim,” ended up admitting that he didn’t feel threatened by me.

He also backtracked and confirmed I didn’t swear at him, despite saying otherwise in his original statement.

(Nice consistency there, Dan.)

Even their referee, John, questioned why his own assistant was acting so confrontational toward me during the game.

The best part?

The referee didn’t even bother to include the incident in his match report because he didn’t think it was serious!

I mean, how serious could it have been if the ref didn’t even write it down?

In the end, the FA found me not guilty of the serious allegations.

That seems reasonable I suppose.

I did get a small fine and a two-match ban for stepping into the assistant ref’s space (which was already backdated because I’d been suspended pending the hearing).

Annoying, but manageable.

Here’s where it gets brilliant.

Their manager, Steve Carter, was found guilty of making racist remarks during the match and got slapped with an 8-match ban.

Meanwhile, Dan (their assistant ref/player, and Steve’s son), landed himself a 3-match ban.

Yes, you read that right—the same people who tried to get me banned ended up getting themselves banned instead.

The whole match was an absolute farce.

They should have just stuck to the game.

It was basically their pitch, their rules, their ref, and they still managed to turn it into a disaster.

And the best part?

They complained to the FA, thinking they’d teach me a lesson, and ended up with harsher punishments for their own behavior.

So yeah, I’m calling this a Sunday league win for karma.

Well done, but who won the match?

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about this.

This commenter loved the karmic justice.

Character attacks can be devastating.

It sounds like a lot of fun.

This is great advice.

It really is a bad idea.

The truth has set them free.

Sports are supposed to be fun, y’all!

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.