First female referee

[chastenor]

....to referee Fulham v Burnley before Xmas. What do we think?

[alfinyalcabo]

Well,she doesn't need to understand the offside rule,as VAR will take care of that.
No mysonogic comments from me as the Bizzies will be on my back..

[sinkov]

I've seen a few in non-league, they've been as good as the men at that level, one was absolutely bloody excellent. The refs in the PL, with the VAR monkey on their backs are bloody awful, I cannot imagine a female ref being any worse, no problem for me. One benefiit as well I've noticed with them is that, with all the female refs I've seen, the players moderate their language and tend to be more respectful.

Can you imagine Haaland for instance, screaming in a female ref's face the way he did with Hooper ? It would be such a bad look he just wouldn't have done it.

[chastenor]

Surprised there hasn't been more reaction from all the full-blooded chauvinistic males of Lancashire. I have no problem with female referees, but my one remaining brain cell has difficulty working out why (as tonight for example) Manchester United are beating Leicester City 3-1. Surely they aren't in the same league, and I'm sure they aren't playing each other in the Cup in December. I think the prominence Sky Sports give to ladies' football is out of all proportion to the actual public interest in it.

[Swissclaret]

Surprised there hasn't been more reaction from all the full-blooded chauvinistic males of Lancashire. I have no problem with female referees, but my one remaining brain cell has difficulty working out why (as tonight for example) Manchester United are beating Leicester City 3-1. Surely they aren't in the same league, and I'm sure they aren't playing each other in the Cup in December. I think the prominence Sky Sports give to ladies' football is out of all proportion to the actual public interest in it.

Maybe people are being cautious in not commenting.

I, like sinkov, hope that she will be shown more respect than male referees now receive. That can only be a good thing.

[Supersub6]

She is a World Cup referee and has worked her way up through the ranks, including refereeing in the Northern League during her progression which, believe me, is not an easy task.
She has earned the right to have this chance and I wish her well becase there are still lots of football fans who think that there is no place for women in the game. Very sad.

[sinkov]

I, like sinkov, hope that she will be shown more respect than male referees now receive. That can only be a good thing.

I think she will get more respect Swiss, it's in our nature for a male to be more aggressive towards other males than he would towards females. I think also, while a male ref is just another bloke, a male footballer will, even if only subconsciously, recognise in a female ref someone who is potentially a wife and mother, and will act accordingly.

Take that lunatic Club President who decked that ref in Turkey, would he have done that to a female ref, enraged as he was, I doubt very much he would.

[Swissclaret]

I think she will get more respect Swiss, it's in our nature for a male to be more aggressive towards other males than he would towards females. I think also, while a male ref is just another bloke, a male footballer will, even if only subconsciously, recognise in a female ref someone who is potentially a wife and mother, and will act accordingly.

Take that lunatic Club President who decked that ref in Turkey, would he have done that to a female ref, enraged as he was, I doubt very much he would.

Good point, sinkov. He would probably try to get into a female ref’s pants! Certainly our generation were brought up to respect women - opening doors, giving up a seat, helping with a coat and so on. It will be a good thing if the players do show some respect for a change.

Maybe they will even cheat less. It will be interesting to see.

[army88]

....to referee Fulham v Burnley before Xmas. What do we think?

Can ref for me as long as they’re good at it - get em off commentary though please ? Can’t stand it. ( neither can Joey Barton ).

[chastenor]

Personally I think lady referees are an excellent idea, I cannot imagine that players will treat them as badly as they do the men.