’So you’ve just qualified, now what?’

Amir started refereeing at just 15, taking his first steps in the Market Road Youth League. Amir is our current Youth Officer. Amir is a Senior County Referee (Level 5) on the way to Level 4. A great example of someone who only 3 years ago was just starting out in refereeing!

I still remember sitting in that classroom on Day 1 of my referee course, not recognising a single face. I was fifteen, didn't know anybody, and I was quietly convinced I was the only one who had no idea what to expect.

The Course

The referee course can feel overwhelming at first, and that's okay. You don't need to have every Law memorised by the end of Day 1. What matters is showing up, paying attention, and not being afraid to ask questions.

One thing that helped me: talk to the other people on your course. Everyone is in the same boat, nervous and unsure, and some of those people might end up being your closest friends in those early months. Refereeing can feel like a lonely job, so building connections from the very start makes a real difference.

Your First Game

My first match was a 7-a-side Under 11s game in the Market Road Youth League. I was fifteen. I walked onto that pitch thinking it would be easy.

I was wrong.

What nobody prepares you for is the noise from the sidelines. Parents and coaches who treat a Sunday morning youth fixture like it's the Champions League final. I gave a foul in the first five minutes and a coach triple my age had disagreed with my first decision.

Here's the advice I wish I'd had:

Back yourself from the first whistle. It’s cliche, but fake it till you make it! Even if you’re nervous on the inside, try to look like you’re confident. A wrong decision delivered with confidence is often more accepted than an uncertain-looking correct one.

You will get things wrong. Every referee does, at every level. What matters is not whether you got it wrong, but how you carry yourself afterwards. Move on quickly and don't let one bad call affect the rest of a game.

The sidelines will always have opinions. Acknowledge it once if you need to, then let it go. Engaging with an 

Position yourself well. Half of refereeing is being in the right place at the right time. If you're close to play and moving well, your decisions carry far more authority, even when they're the same calls you'd make from thirty yards away.

Dealing With Pressure

The pressure doesn't go away as you progress, it just changes shape. The parents on the sideline become coaches with clipboards. The Under 11s become teenagers who argue back. The small pitch becomes a bigger one, with more at stake.

If you're struggling, and every referee will  at some point, talk to someone. Find a more experienced referee through the society or a friend who you can talk to - either about a game or about something completely separate from football.

Where It Can Take You

I won't pretend the early games are always fun. Some of them aren't. But I can tell you what four years of sticking with it looked like for me.

By sixteen I was refereeing academy fixtures. At seventeen I was appointed to semi-professional games. I was selected for The FA's Centre of Refereeing Excellence programme, and this summer I travelled to Portugal to referee at the IberCup, one of the largest international youth football tournaments in the world.

None of that felt possible sitting in that classroom at fifteen.

And alongside all of it, I've made some of my closest friends through refereeing and through this society, people who understand it, who celebrate the good games with you and help you make sense of the hard ones.

That community is here for you too, from day one.

Good luck!