Drive to increase diversity of football match officials picks up momentum

For Joel Mannix, witnessing Sam Allison becoming the first black Premier League referee for 15 years when he took charge of Sheffield United against Luton in December was just the start. A founder member of BAMREF – an organisation that seeks to give a voice and support to all officials from black, Asian and mixed heritage communities – Mannix has devoted the past three years to helping others overcome the barriers he faced.

“I knew I would never see the promised land as a referee,” he says. “I was getting bored with the same old negative words from observers. Sometimes, when doors keep closing on you it can get disheartening …”

But with Sunny Gill having made history in March when he became the first British Asian referee to officiate in the English top flight, some progress appears to have been made after more than a decade in the wilderness since the retirement of Uriah Rennie in 2008. However, Mannix – who is preparing for the third BAMREF conference on Sunday at Anfield – believes there is still plenty of work required to recruit the next generation of referees from diverse backgrounds.

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“It’s all about making the job attractive to people,” he says. “If refereeing is a middle-class profession and a bit of a boys’ club then we’re never going to attract people from outside that demographic.”

In particular, this year’s conference will feature talks and workshops from an all-female panel of referees including the WSL official Lauren Impey and will focus on trying to increase the number of girls and women from diverse backgrounds who take up refereeing. Statistics compiled by BAMREF show that of nearly 37,000 referees across the country, just 243 are women from a black, Asian or mixed heritage background.

“If we can plant a seed in one child’s head at any event across the country then it is going to help increase the numbers. Then it’s up to BAMREF to water that seed and help it grow,” says Vinny Wagjiani, a detective inspector for Kent police who created a mentoring programme for young people with BAMREF two years ago.

“We want to empower female referees. They know they will all face barriers but we can help them to overcome them. I’m convinced that it’s going to be a really rich experience for all those that attend.”

Mannix says: “We need more females of colour throughout the game. I know the WSL is trying to do their bit but it’s so important to have representation. Then the perception about what is possible changes in communities.”

Wagjiani works with children from disadvantaged backgrounds and has found that, despite some initial scepticism, many have thrived on the responsibility of becoming a referee. “The training can really complement their education by giving them the confidence and leadership skills that a lot of kids are missing out on post-Covid,” he says. “It would be great to have them reffing a game, keeping fit and getting paid for it. If you can get two games done on a Sunday then it’s about £80, which isn’t bad for a 14-year-old.

“A lot of young kids who play football think they are going to be the next Harry Kane and be a star in the Premier League but the odds of that happening are very slim. There is much more of a chance of them being in that same stadium running around on the pitch being a referee and it is getting them to see the opportunities there are, not to mention the six-figure salaries that top referees can attract. But also the skills and attributes they can learn along the journey.”

The success of Allison and Gill appears to have played its part in boosting the number of aspiring referees from diverse backgrounds, with BAMREF estimating that 400 have been recruited since its last conference a year ago at Wembley. It has also set up CORE X, a specific programme that aims to increase the chances of being selected for the FA centre of refereeing excellence – known as CORE.

“We have a group of referees that have got talent and everything is there for them now,” says Mannix. “I’m sure that any of these guys could go out there and deliver any game comfortably.”

He acknowledges that having two referees on Professional Game Match Officials Limited’s select list of officials remains way off BAMREF’s 30% target. “I hope there are more to come,” says Mannix. “I’ve always said if you can’t see it, you can’t be it. Kids need to have role models and seeing Sam and Sunny taking charge of matches is only going to help. But they’ve only had a handful of games and there needs to be much more.

“If you look at the diversity of the England men’s team at the Euros, then the number of black and Asian referees in the Premier League should be much bigger than they are.”