Boys in black the way to go

JAMES GILMARTIN: Happy to have taken up refereeing. Opportunities for referees of all ages

IF you ask most teenagers about career options, I bet very few would put down football referee as a first choice.

However, with officials in the Premier League now full time — and well paid — it could be something worth considering for young people keen to be involved in football.

Did you know that the select group of officials who referee in the Premier League receive an annual retainer of £35,000 to £60,000 plus a match fee of approximately £900 a time?
Not bad going — and maybe not out of reach if you get involved young enough, especially with a fast-tracking scheme in place to identify and promote promising referees.

One shining example of this is Premier League referee Stuart Atwell. At just 25 years old, he has already been in charge of high-profile matches.

He spent only one year officiating in the Football League before gaining promotion to the Premier League.

Refereeing is a career option worth looking into — or it can simply be a hobby.

I began refereeing a year ago at the age of 14 (the minimum age) and it is one of the best things I have ever done.

At the time I had just packed up as a paper delivery boy because I found it tedious. When I heard about the money available for officiating junior matches I was pleasantly surprised.

My dad arranged a place for me on a refereeing course with Manchester FA at Salford Sports Village — and I must confess that prior to the first meeting I was looking mainly at the financial benefits.

But I immediately fell in love with refereeing after the first session and maintain until this day I would still referee if it was unpaid.

I passed the basic referees course and registered as an official with my local junior league. I was given a seven-a-side game on the Saturday and it all went smoothly.

I then decided to put myself forward to referee a full-sided game which seemed like a daunting prospect at the time, even though it was only an under-12s fixture.

However, it went well again and now, as a Level 8 referee, I take charge of full-sided games almost every Sunday, along with playing for my own team on some weekend mornings and refereeing most Saturdays.

Recently I began assistant refereeing, which is also thoroughly enjoyable. There are many options and opportunities for referees of all ages, particularly youngsters — and they are all well paid!

In my league, Saturday games pay £15 and Sunday full-sided matches pay £20.

Moreover, the feeling you have helped out and helped pass on the laws of the game to other youngsters is very satisfying.

Obviously refereeing adults puts a different spin on matters, but when I assisted at a Women’s Northern Combination game I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

It really is possible to progress up the refereeing ladder and hit the heights of the professional game fairly quickly.

If you consider that there are 92 professional matches in England every week requiring four officials at every game, that’s 368 in total.

To begin refereeing there is no requirement to show particular talent as a player - there is nothing that even requires you to play at all.

A satisfactory understanding of the game is obviously helpful and, after attending a “Basic Referees’ training course” and reading the “Laws of the Game” handbook, you could be up and running.



FOR details of how to get involved, contact your local Referees Association.

Useful numbers are:

Peter Roberts (Manchester FA Referees Development Officer) 0161 604 7619.

John Maxson (Oldham Referees Association President) 0161 330 6228.