An amateur footballer who called a gay referee a “poof” and a “faggot” pleaded guilty to breach of the peace aggravated by prejudice against sexual orientation in court this week.

Dale Richie, from Perthshire in Scotland, admitted to verbally abusing gay referee Joe Richardson last year after he awarded a red card to a player during a friendly match.

Richie, who was on suspension at the time of the offense, hurled abuse from the sidelines, screaming that the referee was a “faggot” who only became a referee so he could “watch boys in tight shorts.”

The Scottish Daily Record reports that Richie, an unemployed builder, has a previous 2006 conviction for racially aggravated breach of the peace.

Richardson – who claimed he was forced to quit refereeing after the Angus and Perthshire Referees Association failed to back him over the abuse – told Gay Star News, “I am angry it has taken a year for him to admit what he done after telling everyone that I made the whole thing up.

“I am also relieved that I have been vindicated and he has been exposed as a lying homophobic bigoted yob.

“I hope the SFA take stock of the situation and lead from the front on an anti-homophobic awareness campaign but I won’t hold my breath,” he added.