Later this month, Rebecca Welch will create historical past as the primary girl to referee a Premier League match, whereas on Boxing Day, Sam Allison will make historical past as the primary Black man to officiate a top-flight recreation in 15 years.
The 40-year-old Welch will take cost of the Fulham-Burnley match on Dec. 23, whereas Allison would be the man within the center for Sheffield United’s residence recreation towards Luton three days later.
Uriah Rennie was the final Black referee to take cost of a Premier League recreation in 2008, having officiated within the competitors for 11 years as much as that time.
Welch began as a referee in 2010 whereas working in an administrative capability within the NHS earlier than going into officiating on a full-time foundation. She made historical past in April 2021 when she grew to become the primary girl to be appointed to referee an EFL match, taking cost of the League Two fixture between Harrogate and Port Vale.
Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer of Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), stated: “Rebecca is a extremely calm, targeted particular person on the sector. She instructions quite a lot of respect in a reasonably understated approach. She has an excellent studying of the sport, is an correct decision-maker and an excellent athlete on the sector too.
“She has labored exhausting to get to this place over a number of years. She has labored exhausting bodily, technically and actually does deserve this chance. I went to see her myself lately in a recreation within the Championship and was extremely impressed by what I noticed by way of her command of the sport.”
Welch has additionally recurrently refereed high-profile video games within the Women’s Super League and took cost of the 2017 and 2020 Women’s FA Cup finals at Wembley, in addition to matches on the 2022 Women’s Euro and this yr’s Women’s World Cup.
She was additionally the primary girl to officiate within the males’s Championship and FA Cup third spherical, and was the fourth official for final month’s Premier League encounter between Fulham and Manchester United.
Allison, 42, performed with Swindon, Bristol City, Bournemouth and Exeter and had labored as a firefighter earlier than focusing full-time on officiating.
“Both Rebecca and Sam have been a part of the event group that was created final yr. They went by way of a variety course of to be a part of that,” Webb added.
“Credit to them; they have delivered good performances in the Championship this season and deserve their opportunities due to their quality and the talent that they have.”
Allison has taken cost of over 100 matches within the EFL, and his first Premier League publicity got here in October 2022 when he was the fourth official within the fixture between Brighton and Chelsea.
Source: www.dailysabah.com