Washington referee Rebecca Welch to make history as first female to take charge of a Premier League game

Washington referee Rebecca Welch will make football history later this month when she becomes the first female to take charge of a top flight men's game.

Rebecca, 40, will take charge of the Premier League fixture between Fulham and Burnley on December 23 at Craven Cottage.

After being informed of her history making appointment, Rebecca reflected on the conversation which led to her deciding to pick up her whistle.

She said: “I played football and didn’t even think about refereeing until one of my really good friends, who is a referee, refereed us.

“I spent the whole game telling her how to do her job. Her response was, ‘If you think it’s that easy, give it a go’.

"That’s how it happened and years later, here I am.”

Commenting in the decision to appoint Rebecca, referee’s chief Howard Webb said: “Rebecca is a really calm, focused individual on the field. She does command a lot of respect in a pretty understated way. When you meet her, she’s got a presence about her.

“She has a good reading of the game, she is an accurate decision maker, a good athlete on the field too and has really worked hard to get to this position over several years.

“She has good subtle management of the players as well and I have got no doubt she will show all of those qualities at Fulham.”

It's not the first time Rebecca has made ground breaking history as a female referee.

In 2021 she became the first female official to referee in the English Football League when she took charge of the League 2 fixture between Harrogate and Port Vale,

In November (2023) she became the first female to act as fourth official in a Premier League match for the fixture between Fulham and Manchester United.