FOOTBALL has been given the red card in a primary school because pupils started to copy the bad boy antics of their heroes.

Youngsters at Home Farm School in Colchester will be allowed to resume the beautiful sport on Thursday after coming up with their own code of conduct.

The move came after dirty tactics, rough tackles and play-acting led to a number of playground bust-ups and minor injuries among players.

Head Richard Potter said far from being “anti-football”, the aims is to encourage children to develop good sporting values and resilience.

He said: “As a headteacher for quite a number of years, football is one of the more difficult things to manage in the playground.

“It can obviously be fun as long as there are some light rules and the children behave well.

“However, over time the children have started to employ some things we wouldn’t like to see.

“Hard tackling, for example, has led to a number of minor injuries.

“All of that can be dealt with but over the last few weeks it has become a little bit more heavy-handed.”

Mr Potter used a school assembly to express his concern at what he was seeing on the playground pitch and asked the children what they would do if they were in charge.

He added: “I was surprised. Hands went up and some said they would stop football until they behave better.

“I said: ‘OK and we have to come up with a list of rules they must adhere to and a few classes have already submitted the rules which they have agreed to.”

The head, who welcomed classes’ plans to keep up-to-date wall charts on their school walls, also said he wants to use the process as a “learning opportunity” .

He added: “We have our own curriculum drivers here at Home Farm, which are resilience, enterprise, innovation and sport and this falls very much into sport, obviously, and resilience.

“We want our children to understand other people’s point of view.”

The children should be allowed back onto the pitch on Thursday.

Child psychologist Emma Kenny believes the move is wrong for the children, however, and argued penalties used in real-life football matches should be used on them.

She said: “You can teach them really sensible consequences.

“Send them off the pitch instead like the professionals do.

“Banning kids from football is like tying their arms up.

“Children are resilient and enjoy having competition as well as - they are just mimicking the professionals.

“It is part of the world and it is in our DNA.

“It is a great thing. They need that rough and tumble - it is something that is healthy.”

Players such as Brazil star Neymar and Portuguese villain Pepe have come in for criticism for play-acting while Portuguese captain Ronaldo’s reaction to referee’s decision has also raised a few eyebrows.

Fans across the country will also have spotted the less-than-positive tactics employed by Columbia against England.