Rebecca Welch, 39, has been a referee since 2010. In fact, she has had the opportunity to handle the whistle during numerous football matches, notably the Women’s Champions League or more recently the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. -Zealand.
Saturday November 4, the Englishwoman will “write history”, insists the Premier League, the body which governs the first men’s division across the Channel. During the meeting of the 11e championship day between Fulham and Manchester United, she will be fourth referee. Never before has the English federation, The Football Association, appointed a woman to this position.
“In the unlikely event that John Brooks is unable to referee the game due to injury, Rebecca Welch will take charge and become the first woman to referee a Premier League match.”even adds the instance in a press release.
A regular at “firsts”
Originally from Washington, in the county of Tyne and Wear, in the north of England, she is a regular at “firsts”. This former administrator of the National Health Service (NHS, the United Kingdom’s public health system) was the first woman to referee a round of the FA Cup, between Birmingham and Plymouth Argyle, during the 2021 season. 2022.
On Saturday, Rebecca Welch will become the fourth woman to be part of the officiating team for a Premier League match, which already includes assistant referees Wendy Toms, Sian Massey-Ellis and Natalie Aspinall.
Sian Massey-Ellis, who previously acted as fourth official during the second half of the West Ham United-Everton match on April 22, 2017, after being injured as an assistant referee, will also be present at Craven Cottage Stadium, London. She will serve as an assistant on the VAR side.