A terrified 9-year-old football player ran from the field crying after being verbally abused by an opposition player's parent who threatened to rip the child from the pitch.

Cailean Hamilton, who feared he would be physically harmed by the irate father, hopes some good will come from the incident and is calling for sideline spectators to check their behaviour at kids' sport.

His mother Katie Hamilton told Simon and Phil it was a really frightening experience for Cailean, and parents really need to check how they’re behaving at kids’ games.