Will is a great example for aspiring young football referees

Like with most grass roots sports leagues, the Lancashire and Cheshire Amateur Football League faces up to the weekly challenge providing match officials for its games.

League Referees Secretary, Russell Hoyte, said: “This is a challenge repeated all over the country and has been magnified since increased declining numbers in officials since lockdown.

“Perhaps the levels of abuse from players and managers is behind this.

“Despite this there are a growing band of young officials who are keen to take on the challenge of the FA’s refereeing pathway and dream of following in the steps of local heroes Anthony Taylor and Chris Kavanagh.

“This means that inexperienced officials need to successfully overcome the hurdle of Open Age football at the lower levels.”

Since taking over his role 18 months ago, Russell has overseen a large number of inexperienced officials who have progressed through promotion in their Counties and many others heading that way.

Russell added: “We do this by allowing officials to naturally develop their skills and abilities, with the added support from mentors and experienced match officials."

One such young official is 17-year-old William Murphy, who explains his introduction and development in refereeing.

Will said: “I am currently studying for my A-Levels in Geography, Business Studies and English Language.

“I was offered my first opportunity to referee in July 2020, just as we came out of lockdown, by Rob Wilson at Winton Wanderers.

“I first started refereeing aged 13.

"My earliest games were internal friendly matches for Winton Wanderers.

“I didn’t complete my FA refereeing course until February 2022 due to a Covid backlog, so the majority of my training before this was through reading up and ultimately making mistakes in low-stake fixtures.

“One of my favourite highlights in my refereeing career is having the opportunity to officiate a fixture between an American college team on their pre-season tour and a team from Wythenshawe in summer, 2023.

“I joined the L&C AFL in late May and officiated my first open age game on April 4 due to the need to officiate adult football for my promotion to level 6.

“I’ve found that the L&C AFL is a very welcoming league, the vast majority of teams are respectful and play good quality football.

“The L&C AFL have been very supportive when it comes to disciplinary issues from teams and have also been accommodating with regards to the age gap between myself and the players in the league and any issues that may have arisen from that.

“My parents have been a big part of my refereeing career, especially with regards to getting me to games.

“I am looking to do driving lessons in the coming months which means that mum Jennifer will soon became a ‘Redundant Mum’!

“Rob from Winton Wanderers was the first person to give me the opportunity to referee so he has been a big part of my refereeing so far.

“My ultimate goal for the future is to reach the National and FIFA referee lists, but my current aim is my promotion to level 5 which I’m hoping to reach by the end of the season.

“My main piece of advice to younger referees/people wanting to take it up is to have a good support network behind you, whether it be the league you officiate in or the county FA.

“Refereeing can be, at times, a challenging job and having that support network behind you definitely helps.

“Mine consists of my family, my friends, observers and more experienced referees than myself that I can discuss match situations with.”

If you are an aspiring match official, the L&C League covers Oldham, the rest of Greater Manchester and East Cheshire areas, with games taking place on a Saturday afternoon.

Russell can be contacted either by tel 07763 829696 or email: refsec@lancd.org.uk

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