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Rebecca Welch is not the first footballer to have told a referee just how they should do their job \u2013 but a decade later, it is her own decisions which are now set to be front and centre in the Premier League.<\/p>\n
On December 23, Welch will break new ground once again when she takes charge of Fulham against Burnley at Craven Cottage, having in November become the first female to act as fourth official in a Premier League match.<\/p>\n
Yet but for taking one of her friends to task, Welch, 40, might never have given refereeing a go herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI played football and didn\u2019t even think about refereeing until one of my really good friends, who is a referee, refereed us,\u201d Welch recalled in an interview with the Football Association website in March 2021.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent the whole game telling her how to do her job! Her response was, \u2018If you think it\u2019s that easy, give it a go\u2019. That\u2019s how it happened and 10 years later, here I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
Welch\u2019s love of the game stemmed from playing, but it was with the whistle where she made her mark.<\/p>\n
At the start of her refereeing career in 2010, Welch, who is from Washington in Tyne and Wear, was still working in an administrative capacity for the NHS.<\/p>\n
After gaining her badges through the Durham County Football Association, Welch began taking charge of university games as well as in Sunday leagues.<\/p>\n
It was, though, not long before she took it up on a full-time basis and soon climbed through the ranks.<\/p>\n
Welch has regularly refereed high-profile games in the Women\u2019s Super League and took charge of the 2017 and 2020 Women\u2019s FA Cup finals at Wembley.<\/p>\n
She has also officiated in the Women\u2019s Champions League, the latest fixture being Benfica\u2019s 1-0 win over Frankfurt on December 13.<\/p>\n
Added to FIFA\u2019s elite list of international officials during December 2020, Welch was part of the team at the 2022 Women\u2019s Euros as well as this year\u2019s Women\u2019s World Cup, which included refereeing hosts Australia in their last-16 win over Denmark.<\/p>\n
Welch is also no stranger to firsts in the men\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
In 2021, she was the first woman to be appointed to referee a match in the Football League for the Sky Bet League Two fixture between Harrogate and Port Vale.<\/p>\n
Welch later took on matches in the Championship \u2013 the latest being Hull\u2019s 4-1 win over Rotherham on November 28 \u2013 and also the third round of the FA Cup.<\/p>\n
She continues to establish a pathway for women in the men\u2019s game which Welch has long hoped will one day be par for the course.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s always going to be a conversation at grounds to say, \u2018ah, female\u2019 because it\u2019s not the norm at the minute. In five or 10 years\u2019 time, it will be, so it won\u2019t even be talked about,\u201d Welch told the PA news agency in July 2021.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut any conversation I\u2019ve had has never been, \u2018Ah, it\u2019s a female, she won\u2019t be any good\u2019, it\u2019s always, \u2018It\u2019s a female, what made you get into this?\u2019 So the conversation around it has always been quite positive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get criticised on decisions I make because my decisions are subjective, open to opinion and open to interpretation, which is football in general.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople will disagree with me because I\u2019m a referee, but they don\u2019t disagree with me because I\u2019m a female referee.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last month, two 17-year-olds were arrested during Birmingham\u2019s home match with Sheffield Wednesday for alleged misogynistic chanting towards referee Welch.<\/p>\n
Despite Welch now set to find herself in the spotlight again, with every decision under the microscope at Craven Cottage on December 23, she is not about to let anything distract her from just getting on with the job, according to referee\u2019s chief Howard Webb.<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca is a really calm, focused individual on the field. She does command a lot of respect in a pretty understated way. When you meet her, she\u2019s got a presence about her,\u201d Webb said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has a good reading of the game, she is an accurate decision maker, a good athlete on the field too and has really worked hard to get to this position over several years.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has good reading of the game, good subtle management of the players as well and I have got no doubt she will show all of those qualities at Fulham on the 23rd.\u201d<\/p>\n