Rules of The FA WPL

Referees

Reasons to pick up the whistle

Have you ever tried playing a game of football without a referee?
It's pretty difficult, right?

Referees are a hugely important part of our game and we want to encourage more of you to pick up the whistle.

If you're already a qualified referee, there are plenty of ways we can help you improve as an official and encourage you to support your fellow officials, too.

Become a Referee

Five reasons to grab that whistle and start refereeing in Lancashire:

  • Our courses are delivered by vastly experienced officials
  • You will be given a referee mentor to offer support
  • We can help you get started with officiating games
  • There are plenty of chances to progress
  • And we have some fantastic opportunities, such as refereeing in international tournaments or joining our CORE programme, for our best refs
FA Grassroots Referees

Referee Development 

You'll need to take the official FA Referee Course in order to become a qualified referee.

That's where your journey begins!

However, there are so many more opportunities for referees in Lancashire once you're up and running.

Want to progress as far as possible? Work your way towards Lancashire FA's Centre of Refereeing Excellence and apply for promotions.

Does supporting your fellow officials appeal to you? Why not become a Mentor or an Observer?

A helping Hand

RefereeingĀ Support

Our referees are recruited, trained and examined to enable a smooth grassroots operation. As they gain experience further opportunities are provided to aid their development and progression. Appointments are made to adult and youth County Cup ties, together with games in certain FA competitions.