Premier League’s first female referee Rebecca Welch explains how gender saved her from abuse as the trailblazing official aims women’s refs to become the ‘norm’ in men’s game

As Rebecca Welch reflects on her trailblazing refereeing career, she is keen to put the record straight.

Welch became the first woman to take charge of a Premier League game when she refereed Fulham’s game with Burnley last season. It was not the first time she had made history, having done so when she refereed a League Two game in 2021 and a Championship game at the start of last year.

Given the abuse referees are often subjected to and the struggles women face within the game, it would be easy to assume Welch’s experiences in men’s football were fraught with difficulties.

But Welch, who was inducted into the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame on Tuesday, painted a very different picture.

‘I always get asked if I got treated differently from the male referees in the men’s game and I say “yes, but it worked in my favour.”

Welch made history becoming first female to referee a Premier League game when she took charge of Fulham’s game with Burnley last season

The now retired 40-year-old has been inducted into National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame

‘Especially in the men’s game, I don’t think they [the players] go as far. I’ve been a fourth official in the men’s game where the players keep going and going [at the referee] and, with me, I never found that.

‘I don’t know if that’s because I’m 5ft4, I’m quite small. There’s plenty of things that probably wouldn’t work in my favour but if being a female in the men’s game works in my favour then I’m going to take it every day of the week.

‘People tend to think being a female in the men’s game, you’re automatically going to get negative things said about you and I just never found that. People disagreed with me because I was a ref, but they didn’t disagree with us because I was a female ref.

‘They just didn’t agree with my decision, which is part and parcel of our job. But from a respect point of view, I had a great time in the men’s pathway. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have stayed there, I would have come out of it. I loved being involved with it and it was a really good experience for me.’

In a week where referees have been under the spotlight, Welch appreciates the rise of social media means the current landscape for officials means increased scrutiny.

‘Part of football comes with scrutiny, that’s not just refs, that’s managers, that’s players. People are always going to have an opinion what players do, what a manager does, and also what a ref does.

‘We are aware of that when we take up a whistle and take up the cards. We are involved in elite-level sport so we should expect that bit of scrutiny that comes on us. We just have to be strong-minded and be able to deal with that. We’ve got support mechanisms in place that do that as well.’

Welch retired from refereeing in the summer to take up a managerial role with the PGMOL, where she will help guide future female referees.

Welch has admitted that being a woman saved her from too much abuse from male players

In the week in which David Coote (pictured) has been suspended by the PGMOL after a foul-mouthed tirade on Jurgen Klopp was leaked, Welch had said social media increases scrutiny

When the 40-year-old made history by taking charge of men’s football matches, she had to deal with increased attention and scrutiny because she was the first woman to make that step.

Welch is hopeful her experiences will mean future female referees will be able to tread that same path without the fanfare she had to handle.

‘That’s the whole thing about legacy, we want to try and make it the norm for the people coming through, which is how it should be. 

‘I always say that in two years time, I don’t want anyone to be talking about me, I want me to be part of history and we have other female referees coming through who are part of the future and will build their own legacy and help other referees coming through.

‘We had Kirsty Dowle referee a Football League game last year and it was quite ironic because there wasn’t a lot of media attention around it. For me, I thought “this is brilliant.” 

‘The fact that there’s no attention around that means we’re heading in the right direction. I think that was probably better for Kirsty as well because she could probably just focus on the game. 

‘When I say I want people to forget about Rebecca Welch, if we get to that space and it just becomes the norm, then for me that’s my job done.’