The number of violent incidents at amateur football matches in the Netherlands fell 15% last season following a new get tough approach, the Dutch football association said on Tuesday.

The football association said there were 412 reported incidents last season, affecting 274 out of 752,395 matches. This is down some 15% on the 2011/12 season.

But since the death of linesman Richard Nieuwenhuizen, who was kicked to death by a teenage mob after a match at the beginning of December, the number of incidents has halved.

In the weeks prior to the death, there were almost 11 incidents a week, but since then the number has fallen to 5.7. ‘Society is becoming aware of the problem,’ KNVB spokesman Anton Binnenmars said in a statement.

A hotline established by the KNVB following the linesman’s death was called 66 times since March 23, an average of seven times a week.