'Milestone': Rebecca Welch to become first woman to referee Premier League match

Cari Davies reports on Rebecca Welch's momentous appointment and looks back at other groundbreaking moments in refereeing history

Rebecca Welch will make history as the first woman to referee a Premier League on Saturday in a match between Fulham and Burnley.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said the appointment was "great news" with other top-flight managers also praising the decision.

Burnley boss Vincent Kompany called her appointment a "milestone."

Speaking on Thursday he said: "I think she’ll take great pride in having done it herself. There’s a lot of women – in general, but in the game as well specifically – who will see this as a way to achieve at the highest level."

Rebecca Welch has been a trailblazers in refereeing for years. Credit: PA

"I am always pro any kind of extension anyway because what it does is widen the pool of talent."

Ms Welch started as a referee in 2010 while working in an administrative capacity in the NHS before going into officiating on a full-time basis.

The 40-year-old has long been a trailblazer in men's football, she was the first woman to referee an EFL match in 2021 and the first to oversee a FA Cup match in 2022.

Welch has also regularly refereed high-profile games in the Women’s Super League and took charge of the 2017 and 2020 Women’s FA Cup finals at Wembley, as well as matches at the 2022 Women’s Euro and this year’s Women’s World Cup.

Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer of Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), said: "Rebecca is a really calm focused individual on the field. She does command a lot of respect in a pretty understated way.

"She has a good reading of the game, she is an accurate decision-maker, a good athlete on the field, too."

More women are making inroads in a role that has been dominated by men for generations.

Sam Allison will become the first black man to officiate a top-flight game in 15 years. Credit: PA

Stephanie Frappart became the first woman to referee at a men's World Cup at last year's tournament as part of an all-female refereeing team during a match between Germany and Costa Rica.

Ms Welch's role is not the only groundbreaking move in British refereeing this Christmas.

On Boxing Day, Sam Allison will become the first black man to officiate a top-flight game in 15 years.

He will be the man in the middle for Sheffield United’s home game against Luton.

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