Rebecca Welch believes female referees should not feel intimidated about working in the mens professional game, insisting her experience was nothing but positive. The 40-year-old was inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame in Manchester on Tuesday after becoming the first woman to referee in the Premier League last December when Fulham hosted Burnley.
She insists her gender was never an issue when she refereed mens matches – in fact, she felt she had an easier time than her male colleagues. I think I am treated differently, but in a positive way, she said.
FA investigating video after Premier League referee Coote suspendedAston Villas Rogers receives first England call-up as eight withdrawEngland squad | Englands Nations League fixtures | TablesDownload the Sky Sports App | Get Sky Sports on WhatsAppI always found – especially in the mens game – that I got a lot less grief off players than the men [referees] did, which is quite ironic because people probably think its the other way around.
Ive been involved in the mens game since I started and the men have been great – its not always a story people want to hear but Ive had a great experience. Welch was also the first woman to be appointed to referee an EFL match when she took charge of Harrogate vs Port Vale in 2021.
She added: I used to be uncomfortable about that word trailblazer, but now I embrace it. We want to inspire more people to get involved and if they can use my name to help women and girls get into refereeing then Im all for it.
Welch: We must normalise women refereeing in the mens game She hopes football reaches a point where female referees in mens football is unremarkable. Hopefully when the next person does it, we wont be talking about it as much, because we want to normalise it, she added.
We want to make it the norm for a female referee or assistant referee to officiate any fixture and there be no noise around it. Welch, who cites her first Womens FA Cup final in 2017 as her career highlight, also refereed at the 2022 Womens Euro and the 2023 Womens World Cup.
She retired from officiating in the summer to focus on a managerial role at Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), having just refereed at the Paris Olympic Games. Her role now is to support the next generation of talent, spearheaded by the likes of Kirsty Dowle and Abigail Byrne.
She added: Year on year we see an increase in the numbers coming through the grassroots game and the professional game where we have one of the biggest and best womens leagues in the world, but theres also the opportunity for them to go into the male pathway.
I was lucky enough to do both pathways, so the options are really open to people to do what they feel comfortable doing. Englands first Asian-heritage player inducted to Hall of Fame Welchs recognition comes 10 days after trailblazer Frank Soo was posthumously inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame during Stoke Citys clash with Derby County.
Sky Sports News exclusively revealed back in September that Soo, who was the first Asian heritage footballer ever to represent England, was going to be appointed to the Hall of Fame. Stoke City legend Soo was also the first person of East or Southeast Asian (ESEA) heritage to appear in the Football League, making more than 250 appearances for the Potters where he was a former team-mate and captain of Sir Stanley Matthews.
National Football Museum chief executive Tim Desmond said: At the National Football Museum, we are delighted to induct Frank Soo into our Hall of Fame celebrating not only his achievements on the pitch but also his role as a pioneer for being Englands first-ever player of Asian descent.
The National Football Museum is proud to be representative of football in all its diversity and Frank must have overcome a lot of social barriers to achieve at the highest level in the game. His story is incredibly inspiring and we hope this induction contributes to his legacy.
