Wendy Toms was the first female assistant referee in the top flight in 1997. Sian Massey-Ellis and Natalie Aspinall also joined later. Rebecca Welch made history in January as the first female to officiate a Championship fixture.
Rebecca Welch will make history as the first female referee for a Premier League game. She will be the fourth official for Saturday’s match between Fulham and Manchester United at Craven Cottage.
Wendy Toms became the first female assistant referee in the top flight in 1997. She was later joined by Sian Massey-Ellis and Natalie Aspinall.
The referee’s pathway is different. In January, at the age of 39, Welch made history by becoming the first female to officiate a Championship match.
Welch was chosen as a referee for the Women’s World Cup. She officiated three matches, including the Round of 16 game between Australia and Denmark, who were co-hosting the tournament.
Welch refereed the Women’s FA Cup final in 2017 and 2020. She was promoted to UEFA’s highest category of female referees in the same year when she left her job in the National Health Service.
In 2021, she was the first woman to referee a professional game in England. The match was between Port Vale and Harrogate Town in League Two.
It’s a recent measure taken by PGMOL to promote diversity in professional football. Bhupinder Singh Gill made history in January as the first Sikh-Punjabi assistant referee in the Premier League.
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