She DOES know what she’sdoing!
Fans’ praise for Rebecca as she becomes first woman to referee in Premier League
SHE once said she never wanted to be a referee.
But Rebecca Welch yesterday made history by becoming the first female to take charge of a Premier League match.
And the big moment for the 40year-old came at Fulham’s Craven Cottage, where the West London team took on Burnley.
After high-fiving the teams’ mascots in the tunnel, Ms Welch entered the pitch for her warm-up to rapturous applause.
But tempers flared on the 24th minute when home fans chanted ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’, after she booked Calvin Bassey for a contentious foul on Burnley’s
Josh Brownhill. The shouts were not thought to be of a misogynistic nature, though – merely a rite of passage for any new referee.
And while her performance drew some critics, many took to social media to praise her ground-breaking outing, including author and Fulham fan John O’Farrell.
He wrote on X yesterday: ‘I’m going to be at the Fulham game this afternoon when Rebecca Welch becomes the first ever female referee to officiate a Premier League football match.
‘As a well-meaning feminist ally, I will be attempting to lead the crowd in a chant of, “You DO know what you’re doing!”’
Burnley took home just their third win of the season, beating the home side 2-0. Trailblazer Ms Welch, from Washington, Tyne and Wear, was last year the first woman to take charge of an FA Cup third-round tie. In 2022, she was added to the EFL’s national list for men’s football – which oversees both League One and League Two fixtures.
She later became the first woman to referee a league match when she oversaw Harrogate Town vs Port
Vale in 2021. It is thought yesterday’s game pocketed the official a match fee of £1,500 – on top of an undisclosed salary.
Ms Welch spent much of her childhood playing football with other children on the street, but was left disappointed by the lack of a girls’ football team at school.
She said she ‘didn’t even think about refereeing’ until she was challenged by a friend 13 years ago.
Speaking of her rise to become England’s most senior female official, she said: ‘To be honest, I never wanted to be a referee. I think I did it because I wasn’t actually that good at playing and it deflected from me being so bad.
‘My mam doesn’t really know what it means – she hasn’t got a clue. She put on Facebook the other day, “Well done, you’re going to operate in the big men’s league.”
‘She really doesn’t know anything about football, but my dad thought he’d died and gone to heaven when my mam said, “Alan, turn Coronation Street off and put Sky Sports News on!” He texted me, “I wish you drove a Formula 1 car too!”’
Meanwhile, Sam Allison will also make history by becoming the first black official in 15 years to referee a Premier League match. He will take charge of Sheffield United vs Luton Town on Boxing Day.