Becoming a Referee

The first stage is to register with a County Football Association. County F.A.s control all amateur football in their respective areas. For information on your local County F.A., see The Partners section on this site.

The second stage is to attend a Class Three Referees’ Course. This will involve around 10 classroom-based training sessions, followed by a written exam, on the Laws of Association Football. On passing the exam, you become a Class Three referee and may officiate on local amateur ("parks") football.

If you wish to become a Class Two, you must serve one year as a Class Three before being eligible for promotion. The exact requirements vary between the different County F.A.s but promotion is usually decided through assessment. For promotion to Class One (the highest class) at least three assessments are required, in open-age matches. An assessment is when a senior referee (or retired referee) watches you referee, and provides you with a constructive report on your performance. They also send a confidential mark on the copy of the report which is sent to your County F.A.

Class one referees may then be eligible for promotion to Senior Competitions. This may involve refereeing in a "supply league" (a senior amateur league at County level), and being an assistant referee in a "contributory league" (a semi professional league). However, certain age limits apply - minimum and maximum - and a fitness test must be passed before each season.

The standard FIFA fitness test involves:

1. Eyesight test, (car number plate at 25m)

2. 50m sprint in less than 7.5 seconds

3. 200m sprint in less than 32 seconds

4. A distance run, 12 minutes continuous running covering at least 2,700m

Age Limits

The minimum age to be registered as a referee is 14. Junior Referees aged 14-15 may only officiate in competitions where the players are under 16. The minimum age for promotion to Class One is currently 17. The maximum age for contributory league officials is 45.