Rebecca Welch can follow in the footsteps of other officials from football’s north-east hot-bed and make it right to the top, says former referees chief Keith Hackett. Welch, from Washington, County Durham, made history on Monday when becoming the first female to be appointed to referee a game in the English Football League. “The north-east has always produced top-class referees and at the moment our country’s leading referee, in my opinion, is Michael Oliver. “I think Welch had 10 years in grassroots football,” Hackett added. She’s beaten that resistance and the cynicism she’s probably seen, but the one thing she’s had is a great deal of support from referees from the north-east.

Source: Express April 06, 2021 12:56 UTC