Rebecca Welch, first woman to referee in the Premier League, in the wake of Stéphanie Frappart

For the first time in history in the English men’s championship, a woman will referee an elite match on Saturday.

“A historic breakthrough”. The announcement made on December 14 by the Premier League was not ambiguous. For the first time in its history, the elite of English football informed that a men’s championship match, on the occasion of the 18th day between Fulham and Burnley, would be refereed, Saturday December 23, 2023, by a woman, Rebecca Welch.

However, there is no question of talking about any early Christmas present given to the 40-year-old Briton, whose experience of high-level meetings has continued to grow in recent years.

A dazzling trajectory

A referee since 2010, Welch became, in 2021, the first woman to officiate a League Two match, a fourth division match between Harrogate and Port Vale, before climbing the ranks and officiating in the Championship (second division ) in January 2023. Last November, she was appointed fourth referee during the Premier League match between Fulham and Manchester United, a first for a woman across the Channel. On Saturday, therefore, she is back at Craven Cottage – the London club’s stadium – to play the leading roles.

On the international scene too, she has made her place, notably last summer during the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Not bad for someone who has only been working full-time since 2019 – until then she worked, in parallel, at the National Health Service, the British public health service.

Everyone around her praises her investment and her work ethic, but above all her resilience to continue to progress.

The BBC needed no more to describe the meteoric rise of the young woman, originally from Tyne and Wear, a county in the north-east of England, in three words: “pioneer, history maker, model”. Qualifications shared by the “head” of referees across the Channel, Howard Webb: “I’m really confident that she will deliver a good match and will be a great example for women and girls who think that refereeing is for them when, until now, that hasn’t been the case.”

A pioneer in English football, like Frappart in France

Changing perspectives, inspiring, breaking the glass ceiling… These strong messages sent by the British woman’s trajectory mingle with those which accompanied the arrival of Stéphanie Frappart in the professional male world. The French referee has broken down many barriers throughout the years: pfirst female referee to officiate in Ligue 2 (2014), Ligue 1 (2019), UEFA Super Cup (2019), Champions League (2020), Europa League (2020) and during an international match men’s with the League of Nations (2020). Since then, she has taken another step forward by becoming the first woman to officiate as a central referee during a Men’s Football World Cup match at the end of December 2022 in Qatar.

A few days ago at a press conference, Chelsea coach Mauricio Pochettino made a direct reference to her when talking about the arrival of Rebecca Welch: “When I was in France with PSG, Stéphanie Frappart was already officiating and was really very good (…) I think we need to open our minds and make sure that people are concerned about quality above all else.”

A model by example that Stéphanie Frappart has always advocated, as she explained in November 2022 to franceinfo: sport. “I am not the spokesperson for feminism. I don’t want to be stigmatized based on a gender but based on what I do on the pitch.”

At the beginning of August, in the columns of Sunderland EchoRebecca Welch spoke about her beginnings in the professional male world, explaining that being a female referee “never really was a problem”. “No one has ever expressed dissent directly towards me. The feedback has all been positive and the social media trolls have stayed away”she explained.

Women referees, still targets of sexism and misogyny

However, according to the English press, Rebecca Welch was the victim of misogynistic chants almost a month ago, while she officiated during a Championship match between Birmingham and Sheffield Wednesday.

Ahead of Saturday’s meeting between Fulham and Burnley, a group of supporters of the female-led London club – the “Fulham Lillies” – spoke to the leaders to ensure that any discriminatory abuse against them The central referee is reported to the hotline available at the stadium. Proof that sexist abuse is still very present in the stands and that it will probably take time to eradicate it for good. This is despite the fact that more than 200 female referees and assistant referees have officiated in men’s football across the world to date.