The organisation responsible for English football’s officials is embarking on the most radical shake-up of refereeing in its history with the aim of improving what critics believe is the dire state of officiating in the country.
The PGMOL – Professional Game Match Officials Limited – is closing in on around 20 new appointments. A raft of new roles have been created and others added to already existing departments as part of the PGMOL’s new Elite Referee Development Plan.
As part of that revolution, three of this summer’s four retiring Premier League referees have taken new roles in the organisation.
The pool of professional referees is split into four “select groups” determining the level at which they officiate. Jon Moss, 51, a referee of 23 years who took charge of an FA Cup final, will be the select group one manager. Kevin Friend, 50, a Premier League referee for 13 years who refereed an FA Cup and League Cup final, will manage select group two referees. While Martin Atkinson, 51, who became an assistant referee in the Football League in 1995 and went on to referee the FA Cup and Europa League final, is to become a select group one coach.
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Mike Dean is the fourth veteran referee to depart the top-flight and it is not yet known if he intends to remain working in the organisation.
There has been some concern that the Premier League is losing four vastly experienced officials, but sources at the PGMOL point out that much of their expertise will be used to develop the next generation of officials and that Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor, both chosen to officiate at the Qatar World Cup, remain.
Four officials were promoted last summer while Tom Bramall was recently promoted from refereeing in the Championship.
Premier League clubs have been behind the push for change, citing their dissatisfaction with the performances of officials in recent years. It also comes in the wake of the independent investigation into the conduct of David Elleray, formerly the chair of the Football Association’s referee committee and one of the most powerful officials in world football, launched following a string of exclusives by i.
Earlier this year, the FA announced it would not take any action against Elleray at the conclusion of the investigation. Yet he still stood down from all his FA roles following two decades at the organisation, which has embarked on a reset of refereeing culture based on extensive recommendations in the report compiled by Leigh Barnett, the lawyer who conducted the investigation.
The FA refused to make the final report public.
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FA keeping Elleray report findings private would be a 'cover up', say dismayed former referees16 February, 2022The PGMOL’s summer recruitment drive represents a complete overhaul of the country’s refereeing system and one source in the refereeing community said they hoped it would “change the face of refereeing” in English football.
Traditionally, the FA has insisted referees climb the ladder from grass roots to the Football League and then the top-flight, which can take over a decade and is poorly paid at the lower levels, but it is thought a new system could fast-track talented officials.
Indeed, the PGMOL is continuing to discuss and is open to innovative ideas to further develop and improve refereeing. Bibiana Steinhaus-Webb, the first woman to referee in Germany’s Bundesliga, became the PGMOL’s first women’s select group director last year, in charge of Women’s Super League officials.
Rebecca Smith, who as a player captained New Zealand at the 2011 World Cup and won the Champions League with Wolfsburg in 2013, recently joined Steinhaus-Webb’s team as a referee coach. There have been calls for the PGMOL to proactively find former players interested in becoming officials.
Other new positions at the organisation include a performance support director, a coach director, an assistant referee coach, a new Human Resources executive and performance specialists, including a sports scientist and psychologist.
Mike Riley, who is the Premier League’s head of referees, is said to have come under pressure from Premier League club executives critical of the standard of refereeing and high-profile mistakes under his leadership.
Discontent largely centres around the implementation of Video Assistant Referees, technology introduced to English football in 2018 that is a constant point of controversy.
Howard Webb, the hugely respected former Premier League referee who is married to Steinhaus-Webb, has been mooted as a replacement, although he currently holds a similar position in America’s Major League Soccer.
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