Pembroke club have not totally cast aside the soccer player.

President Shervin Dill pointed out that Village were keen to help the player sort out any personal problems or legal issues resulting from his recent attack on referee Perry Scott.

Besides the club ban, Simons has also been hit with a 12-year suspension by Bermuda Football Association.

"We would ultimately like to see something positive come out of this,'' said Dill, who took over the presidency from Rudolph (Buddy) Hollis in August.

"Yes, Kacy has run afoul of the laws and must take responsibility for his actions. But the situation goes a lot deeper than that, in that there is a societal aspect to all of this and that there are things going on in his personal life that contributed as well.

"That's not to make excuses for Kacy, because he has to take responsibility for his actions and he recognises this, but he is human and he is one of us.'' Dill noted that Simons had expressed total remorse for his actions during the recent BFA disciplinary hearing.

And he added that representation had been made to the injured referee, with Dill having visited Scott who, ironically, is registered as a player for the very same Rams team as Simons.

Dill said he conveyed the sense of sorrow and guilt felt by the player as a result of his violent conduct, which resulted in the match official requiring hospital treatment for facial injuries.

Simons will also have avenues made available to him to receive counselling.

"We have meted out this punishment, but we must be mindful that it is not wholly about being punitive,'' said Dill. "We must also seek to help and rehabilitate the person, rather than simply discard them.

"We are not just going to throw him out, but have recommended that he seek some form of rehabilitation to help him deal with his anger management problem.

"We would also like to see him do some sort of community service towards the sport of football and put something back, which would ultimately help him in his recovery and make him still feel like he is a part of the family, because he is one of us.'' "If he is able to do these things successfully, we have numerous programmes at the club at the junior level and, down the line, if we see fit to get him involved in that, we will.'' Asked if the move by the referees to boycott matches was a necessary one, Dill said that while it was unfortunate, Bermuda Referees Association were forced into a position whereby they felt they needed to make a stand.

The president pointed out that his executive recognised the stress being placed on officials, and that the club were moving towards better protecting those on the field from fans, as well as affording safe passage to and from the pitch.

Some perimeter fencing has been erected and more will be added to stop spectators running on the playing surface, while fencing has been set up to separate referees and their assistants from players as each depart for the dressing rooms.

"We are doing what we can to eradicate violence from the game at our club.

However for us and many others there are financial difficulties in doing so,'' said Dill.

"These things (violence) are killing the game and we must find a way to save what is our national sport.''