He wrote: “Do we in the GAA accept abuse of referees as normal behaviour? Not alone is it part and parcel of our club games but we watch it on national tv and sometimes regard it as entertaining.

We also watch team mangers make a bee-line for referees at half-time to take issue with first half decisions.

“Board officials remonstrate with fourth officials and linesmen and supporters gather at tunnel exits to vent their feeling at half-time and end of games.

Sometimes these incidents or “infractions” as we call them in the GAA are reported and most times not.

“It is amazing that anyone would sign up to be a GAA referee under these circumstances. We should be extremely thankful to those who do and for their bravery and commitment we should praise and encourage them all we can.

As officials we must stand by our referees and take every possible step to protect them.

Floyd also described the Allianz League final defeat suffered to Kilkenny as the “root cause” for Tipperary’s disappointing hurling year.

He feels that the 2-17 to 2-23 loss at Nowlan Park on April 8 was the “biggest factor” in their failure to win a game in the Munster championship.

“The biggest factor, in my opinion, was losing the league final to Kilkenny and the manner in which we were defeated,” he wrote.

“Many of the positives gained in the lead up to the league final were reduced to frustration and confusion. As the defeat was not as bad scoring-wise as the 2017 league final hammering by Galway, this one hurt even more because it was déjà vu against Kilkenny in Nowlan Park, with it being our eighth loss against them at this venue in ten years.

He added: “This loss did serious damage to the players’ mind-set apart from unsettling the whole structure of the team.

“It’s ironic that our best performance was in our final game against Clare which brings me back to my original point that the league final defeat was the root cause of Tipp’s disappointing year.