Dave Bradshaw was officiating the clash between Platt Bridge and Wigan Rose when he brandished a red card to one of the Platt Bridge players.
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Wigan Athletic star set for spell on the sidelines
What followed saw Bradshaw sustain a broken nose, four broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a broken collarbone, concussion and whiplash.
Referee Dave Bradshaw is helped by onlookers
He was admitted to hospital but has since been released.
Greater Manchester Police and the Lancashire Football Association are already investigating the matter.
Platt Bridge have confirmed the player in question has already left the club.
“Hi all, still at hospital, I’ve sustained significant injuries,” Bradshaw posted on social media on Sunday evening.
“But I’ll survive, thanks for all the nice messages I’ve received. Up the refs”
He later added: “Hi all, been a very traumatic 12 hours, thanks for all the kind words.
“I’ve sustained substantial injuries but I’ll survive.
“My confidence has been smashed to bits but please, because of one person, don’t tarnish the club with the same brush.
“The club is doing great things for the community. Up the refs”
Platt Bridge FC tweeted: “We as a club do not condone any violence towards anyone in the football community.
“We are ashamed of what has happened, and the player is no longer playing with our team going forward.
“We as a team hope we can build our reputation back to what we have worked so hard for.”
A further message confirmed: “We have spoken to the ref and apologised.”
The incident quickly came to the attention of the ‘Refsupportuk’ Twitter account, who called for the authorities to not be ‘waiting for a match official to be murdered’ to address the growing problem of abuse of match officials.
“When The FA say #EnoughIsEnough what exactly do they mean?” a tweet read. “Does anyone really know?
“We really do feel that the time is here to ask the @fa to state clearly what their plan is for more protection for referees.
“Ref needs to know the FA actually do care and will support refs taking a week or two of action and stop refereeing.
“The FA need to state clearly the date of the body cam pilot and what leagues are delivering them.
“They need to support a points deduction for teams found guilty or ref abuse and assaults.
“They need to show they are not waiting for a match official to be murdered but they introduce strong measures and a body cam trial.
“The time is now to show that they mean why they say ‘enough is really enough’.”
The FA eventually responded on Monday evening, releasing a statement saying the incident would be dealt with ‘as a matter of urgency’.
It read: “We are aware of incidents of assault on a match official and a player during matches played this weekend in Lancashire.
“We have been very clear that all forms of anti-social behaviour, abuse and assaults on match officials and participants are completely unacceptable and we will not tolerate this in the game.
“We are investigating the incidents as a matter of urgency, working with the Lancashire FA, who are liaising with the police and supporting the match official and player affected.”
