List of 51 candidate referees drawn up for FIFA Womens World Cup

[oldmanreferee]

http://www.fifa.com/documents/tournaments/wwc/2007-041-FWWC%20prospective%20referees-E.pdf

2 referee's and 1 AR from the USA
good job ladies

[jacoismyhero]

Ok... who didn't see Kari Seitz going?

Kidding aside, congratulations to those 3, as well as all 51 referees selected.

[refontherun]

Does UK have no female referees or is this just a well known fact?

[Englishref]

Does UK have no female referees or is this just a well known fact?

We (England) have three FIFA referees, and three FIFA ARs. However, Amy Rayner (refs), Natalie Walker, and Emma Everson (ARs) are new to the list this year. Wendy Toms has been on the refs list for 8 years, however, she's always been dogged by injury/fitness problems, which hasn't helped her progression in English domestic football, and is probably why she's never done much on the FIFA stage.

Sasa Iringhova is originally for Slovakia, but is now based here either working or studying (my memory fails me), and lines on Panel leagues (i.e. she's a level 3 referee here) - which is a bit confusing because Rayner is a level 2, so is technically more senior than Iringhova, and could have her as one of her AR on the panel. Alison Chapman has been a FIFA AR for 4 years, but has also struggled to progress domestically.

So it's very disappointing not to get at least one official go to the World Cup. I'd have expected at least either Iringhova or Chapman to be there tbh.

However, some very good female UEFA refs on that list.

[Jumbler]

Are we gonna see women refs in the Premier League or League One/Two? :D

Which leagues do these refs work in?

[Englishref]

Are we gonna see women refs in the Premier League or League One/Two? :D

Which leagues do these refs work in?

Amy Rayner is the most senior, as she's a level 2 referee, which means she referees on the Conference National (plus other panel leagues), and lines on the Football League (remember the Mike Newell sexism saga?). Rumour has it, she's not doing too well on the panel, so don't expect to see her refereeing in the FL too soon. Sasa Iringhova is a level 3, meaning she referees on the contributory leagues (such as Conference South/North), and lines on the panel leagues (such as the Conference National). I've seen her referee an England womens game, and she looked pretty impressive, so she may make the jump soon.

As for the others, they're level 4 and 5s I think, but are all fairly young (Wendy Toms excepted), so they have plenty of time to progress.

[USSF REF]

Amy Rayner is the most senior, as she's a level 2 referee, which means she referees on the Conference National (plus other panel leagues), and lines on the Football League (remember the Mike Newell sexism saga?). Rumour has it, she's not doing too well on the panel, so don't expect to see her refereeing in the FL too soon. Sasa Iringhova is a level 3, meaning she referees on the contributory leagues (such as Conference South/North), and lines on the panel leagues (such as the Conference National). I've seen her referee an England womens game, and she looked pretty impressive, so she may make the jump soon.

As for the others, they're level 4 and 5s I think, but are all fairly young (Wendy Toms excepted), so they have plenty of time to progress.

I've read some of this on the FA site, but could you give us a breif overview of the English grading system for Referees? I'd be very interested to see what it is.

[Englishref]

I've read some of this on the FA site, but could you give us a breif overview of the English grading system for Referees? I'd be very interested to see what it is.

It's pretty complicated tbh, but I'll do my best.

Level 10 - Non-active referees (i.e. referees who remain registered by no longer referee, e.g. instructors)
Level 9 - Referees currently in training
Level 8 - Youth Referees (i.e. 14-16 years old)
Level 7 - Park Referee (i.e. over 16, can referee any local grassroots league of any age/gender)
Level 6 - County Referee: not much difference between 7 and 6 except you'll get higher division games in your local league, and games in the more senior county cups
Level 5 - Senior County Referee: referees who have either been higher than a level 5 and dropped out of refereeing, or just a senior referee who hasn't passed their fitness test
Level 4 - Supply League Referee: Basically level 5s who pass the supply league fitness test. Referee on supply league (sort of county-wide semi-professional leagues), and line on contributory leagues
Level 3 - Contributory League Referee: Referee on contributory leagues (such as Conference North/South, Southern League, Ryman Premier), and line on Panel Leagues or (depending on your ARing marks when lining on the Panel) the Football/Premier League
Level 2 - Panel League Referee: referee on Panel Leagues (such as Conference National, Premier Reserve League), and line on Football/Premier League
Level 1 - National List Referee: referee on either the Football or Premier League
Select Group Referee: Referee mainly on the Premiership, but can also get games in one of the six ear-marked Football League games to be covered by SG officials
FIFA - Obviously referee in FIFA competitions.

That's it really. If you want examples, Phil Sharp, Glenn Turner and Peter Kirkup are Level 3 referees, but all line on the PL and are FIFA ARs. Gavin Ward, Darren Cann, and Roger East are all level 2 referees, and also line on the PL and are FIFA ARs. Keith Stroud, Keith Hill and Trevor Kettle are all Level 1 referees and referee on the FL (as well as 4O on the PL). Alan Wiley, Steve Bennett and Dermot Gallagher are all also level 1s, but are members of the SG. And Graham Poll, Mike Riley and Howard Webb are all also level 1s, but members of the SG and FIFA refs.

Phew!

[ref47]

http://www.footballreferee.org/promotion_structure.php
from the ra website.

[Gary V]

Obviously the women refs have better communication skills, as they aren't divided up into country teams like the men were. :-)

[Leighs_babe]

COngrat to Kari and JENN and Sharon will do ok
i think we should have a referee swimsuit issue

[oldmanreferee]

i think we should have a referee swimsuit issue[/QUOTE]

I am not sure how to answer that statement. LOL i am sure there are a few out there none of us want to see in less clothing;)