A teenage female referee has revealed that adults labelled her a "little bitch" while she officiated an Under-10s football match.

A youth team linked to Manchester City and Liverpool's Litherland Tigers were thrown out of a tournament after some of the players' parents verbally abused 15-year-old referee Emma Hickson.

"I don't think I said there was swearing as such, but he did definitely call me a disgrace," Hickson told the Daily Mail. "There were a few parents saying things like 'silly little bitch', 'twat' and things like that.

"At the end of the day, it is a kids football match. They just want to play football, I just want to ref and it shouldn't be taken that seriously."

The youngster suggested that the conflict between parents was due to a Manchester, Liverpool rivalry.