Leisure and Sports - Football Referee
Leisure and Sports - Football Referee
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Football referees take charge of matches and make sure players compete within the rules of the game.
- Meet with team managers and brief your assistants before a game
- Inspect the pitch, markings and equipment prior to kick off
- Manage the game, make decisions and check rulings made by assistants
- Deal with inappropriate behaviour and language on and off the pitch
- Stop the game when player safety is at risk, for example a head injury
- Produce a match report after a game, highlighting any incidents
As a Football Referee, you could work on a sports field.
Your working environment may be physically demanding, outdoors in all weathers and you'll travel often. You may need to wear a uniform.
Football Referees tend to work variable hours a week. You could work evenings, weekends and bank holidays.
Variable
You can become a referee through a structured training programme run by the Football Association (FA).
To start, you'll need to register with your local County FA and complete the FA Referee Course.
The course is a mix of online and face-to-face training. You must finish the online learning and do safeguarding training before you complete the face-to-face module.
To qualify, you must referee at least five 11-a-side games and be assessed by a referee mentor.
You would usually start to referee at youth football level then progress to higher levels as your experience grows. You can do further training with the FA to help you advance in both the men's and women's game.