An Arsenal academy coach has been fined and banned by the FA after reducing a female teenage referee to tears during an under-9s football match.

The Times revealed that U9s coach Alex Nichols shouted at the girl, allegedly calling her a “little p***k”, with his behaviour marked as “abhorrent” by a disciplinary panel.

After the match between Arsenal and Reading, the girl refused to shake Nichols’ hand at which point he insulted her. Nichols denied having done so.

An initial hearing found Nichols guilty of one charge of improper conduct and cleared him of using abusive words, but he was subsequently found guilty of both offences upon a second hearing. Nichols was banned for three games and fined £400.

The hearing’s findings concluded that Nichols, who has been a coach at Arsenal for 12 years, had been a picture of “abhorrent behaviour that continued throughout the game, was directed against a young female referee, a child and had left her crying”.

An Arsenal spokesperson said: ”At Arsenal we do not accept or tolerate behaviour of this nature. We took appropriate action, suspending the coach immediately after the allegation was brought to our attention.