FA with big task at hand to create a more representative refereeing workforce
Never a good sign when staffing data of a large, national body is difficult to find. Women? Listed. Referees from a black, Asian, and minority ethnic background? Reported. Women of colour? Finding that information poses more of a challenge.
The Football Association’s (FA) strategy for 2020-2024 includes goals for players and coaches, but let’s look at their referee targets. To give a better idea, there’s been a 72% increase in female referees since 2016, but they still only makeup around 6% of all referees in England.
The FA created a female pathway during the 2019-2020 season to aid in progress.
They also launched a campaign to diversify the refereeing workforce this year as only about 10% of all referees are from black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds.
Both pathways were created to achieve 50% increases in under-represented communities.
However, the rates reported are much lower for under-represented communities as the further you look along the promotion pathways. This is the biggest mark on progress reported so far.
There’s a reason it made news when Rebecca Welch became the first female referee in the Premier League in December 2023. Or when Sam Allison became the first black referee in the Premier League in 15 years three days later. Things don’t make major news if they occur regularly.
Refereeing is about applying the rules of the game neutrally and fairly. But how can this ever be possible when so many of the country’s referees have similar backgrounds?
The goals set forth by the FA are admirable and necessary to improve refereeing and the game as a whole. But getting to the targets is not going to be easy.
It’s hard to be what you can’t see, so the visibility and responsibility on the shoulders of those considered firsts must be immense.
Take Jawahir “JJ” Roble for example. She is the UK’s first female, black, Muslim referee. After dreaming of becoming a professional footballer as a child, she stumbled upon refereeing by accident while in university.
She reflected, “It took me so long to get into it because there was no one that looks like me that was refereeing.
“If it wasn’t for the love of football, honestly, I would be like, ‘Okay, this is actually a joke. Let me just stop it.’
“But because I loved football, and I felt so good when I was referee. I was like, I can be my own role model. I can be the first to do it.”
The FA is lucky to have a referee and role model like Roble who confidently takes what would be an overwhelming weight of responsibility for many and uses it as fuel to improve – both for herself and for those who come after her. That’s a big ask for any one individual.
Without referees, there is no football to play. Yet there is often an air of judgement at best and abuse at worst for referees.
The reports of referee abuse at all levels is terrifying. And refereeing is a high-pressure job already. Adding the potential for racism and sexism? That’s a hard sell.
Women in Football’s 2024 survey of individuals working in a myriad of football jobs found that 89% of women have experienced discrimination at work. Further, women from underrepresented ethnic groups were more likely to experience sexism and harassment. Alarmingly, these rates are higher than previous years of the survey. This means as referee abuse is on the rise, so too is discrimination against women, particularly women of colour.
When Roble first started refereeing, some parents would ignore her and refuse to say thank you at the end matches. She had one incident where a parent asked why a girl wearing a hijab was refereeing their child’s game.
She loves refereeing Sunday leagues and said men often make comments like, ‘I wouldn’t expect you to do well, but you did.’ This didn’t seem to bother her, but it’s hard not to see it as a bit of a subtle dig disguised as a compliment.
To the FA’s credit, Roble said she hears less and less negativity from players and spectators and is overwhelmingly positive about her experiences and opportunities. Which is a relief, but this must become more of the norm.
Because this isn’t just about getting women, and women of colour particularly, into refereeing. It’s about ensuring they feel safe and supported while doing so. It’s the so-called smaller details, like having a specific area for women referees to get ready before matches. It’s ensuring they have proper reporting avenues.
The newly created pathways and commitment from the FA are critical and commendable. The work and support of BAMREF is also essential. But many barriers persist that need tackling before we will see referees representing society.
You can learn more about Jawahir Roble’s story here.
Feature image credit: Ronnie Macdonald
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