Rebecca Welch, the story of the first female referee in the Premier: from Beckham's influence to Guardiola's welcome

Ten thousand British referees in various categories have thrown in the towel in the last five years due to threats and abuse. And yet, a woman, Rebecca Welch, 40 years old, has decided to swim against the current and become the Premier's first referee, oblivious to the toxic atmosphere that is breathed on the fields and in the stands.

“I feel like I'm done with my apprenticeship,” Welch told The Guardian three years ago, when he made the jump to the men's second division.. “I've gotten to a position where I'm not going to let anything stop me from being successful.”

Just two weeks ago, he had to endure a chorus of misogynistic chants during the match between Birmingham and Sheffield. The match was momentarily interrupted and two teenagers were arrested as the perpetrators of the offenses against the referee, who remained steadfast in her work, convinced as she is that “idiots are a minority.”

The beginning

Football ran through his veins since his childhood in Washington, Tyne and Wear, a city of 70,000 inhabitants in the north of England that claims to be the land of President George Washington's ancestors.. Becks Welch came to play in the lower categories of women's football in the Sunderland area, inspired among others by David Beckham.

She won competitive exams as an administrator in the National Health System (NHS), although her passion was still very much alive, to the point of simultaneously studying to become a referee for the Durham County Football Association. What began as a part-time hobby, on weekends, ended up becoming his main occupation starting in 2019, when he finally resigned from his permanent position to dedicate himself to professional arbitration with all its consequences.

“I got into this because of a good friend who decided to be a referee, although at that time I didn't understand why anyone could follow this path,” she admitted two years later, when she became the first female referee in the men's League Two, the first regional).

That same year she decided to leave her doubts behind, continue climbing and become an inspiration for a legion of girls who are taking up soccer at increasingly younger ages.. “I feel extremely proud to have followed that path and to have also filled my family with pride,” she declared at the time.

His debut on the Fulham field

A year later she whistled the final of the Women's FA Cup at Wembley, and that same summer she established herself in the Women's Euro 2022, finally won by the lionesses of England in their own home.. In the last Women's World Cup won by Spain, she was also one of the most requested referees, recognized for her extraordinary physical fitness and for her “thick skin” in the face of abuse and insults.

On November 4, she already marked a milestone as the fourth member of the arbitration team between Manchester United and Fulham. And this Saturday she will undoubtedly be the main attraction at Fulham's field, Craven Cottage, in the match against Burnley that will go down in history as the first referee by a woman in a Premier match.

Pep Guardiola has been one of the first to celebrate his election: «Excellent news. Let's hope that in the future we can have more [women]. Everyone is more involved, that's good.”. “I wish her the best, it will be something really positive,” declared Mikel Arteta, especially critical of the referees and the VAR this season.. «Diversity is something incredibly positive for the league. It's something we needed,” said the Arsenal coach.

Newcastle coach Eddie Howe also welcomed the Premier's first female referee: “It's a great moment for football.”. The choice of a referee has to be based on their ability, and not on gender, and this is a decision that I fully support.

For Mauricio Pochettino, Chelsea coach, the decision is not so new. After all, he was already refereed by the Frenchwoman Stephanie Frappart when she coached PSG: «She was really good. And why not? I think the capacity is there.. “We have to open our minds and people have to understand that what we are looking for is quality in refereeing.”

The obligatory reference for Rebecca Welch is in any case Bibiana Steinhaus, the former police officer who took the alternative as a referee in the Bundesliga in 2017, also paving the way for the Italian María Ferrieri Caputi (already a regular in Serie A) or the Spanish Marta Huerta de Aza, who whistled at Old Trafford during the Women's Euro Cup, also participated in the last World Cup and was the first female VAR in the final of the last Queen's Cup.