With the deepest pyramid in world football, the men’s game refereeing pathway provides a route to the top of the game for any official demonstrating the commitment and quality to ascend through its levels.
Our Refereeing Strategy, To Grow, Guide and Govern, has allowed the most promising of match officials to reach the peak of the grassroots game in under 12 months and then allows them to enter the Non-League System as a Level 4 match official. From here, match officials can specialise as a 4SAR or progress as a referee to Level 3.
At the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, The FA and PGMOL announced a merger between the National List of Match Officials and the Step 1 group, allowing for more fluidity between the levels within the professional game, thus creating greater development opportunities for more match officials.
Within the professional game, the PGMOL manage match official appointments, training and development and administration. The Elite Referee Development Programme has also resulted in significant investment in refereeing at the top of the game.
The pinnacle of officiating ladder are the FIFA match officials. Nominated by The FA and selected by FIFA, these constitute the best officials from the English game.
At the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, The FA is represented by 10 Referees, 10 Assistant Referees, 11 Video Match Officials and 3 Futsal Referees.
Our Refereeing Strategy, To Grow, Guide and Govern, has allowed the most promising of match officials to reach the peak of the grassroots game in under 12 months and then allows them to enter the Non-League System as a Level 4 match official. From here, match officials can specialise as a 4SAR or progress as a referee to Level 3.
At the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, The FA and PGMOL announced a merger between the National List of Match Officials and the Step 1 group, allowing for more fluidity between the levels within the professional game, thus creating greater development opportunities for more match officials.
Within the professional game, the PGMOL manage match official appointments, training and development and administration. The Elite Referee Development Programme has also resulted in significant investment in refereeing at the top of the game.
The pinnacle of officiating ladder are the FIFA match officials. Nominated by The FA and selected by FIFA, these constitute the best officials from the English game.
At the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, The FA is represented by 10 Referees, 10 Assistant Referees, 11 Video Match Officials and 3 Futsal Referees.
The Women’s Game pathway is continuously growing and developing, offering opportunities to all match officials who demonstrate commitment and passion for the Women’s Game.
County FAs appoint match officials in the Youth and Grassroots game, with the most senior officiating at Tiers 5 and 6.
The FA appoints 3W Referees and the newly introduced 3WARs to fixtures in the FA Women’s National League. All 3Ws are eligible for selection to the 3W-2W Promotion Pool, with the highest-performing officials chosen through a rigorous selection process. Remaining candidates operate as 3Ws, refereeing Tier 4 fixtures, and 3WARs, serving as Assistant Referees on Tier 3 fixtures.
In the professional game—the Barclays Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship—the PGMOL manages match official appointments, training, development, and administration.
Participation in the Women’s Game continues to grow each year, and the pathway offers significant opportunities for those with the necessary quality and dedication. The pinnacle of the officiating ladder is the group of FIFA match officials, nominated by The FA and selected by FIFA, representing the best from the English game.
As of the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, The FA is represented by five Referees and eight Assistant Referees.
