Saturday’s game against the MK Dons at Stadium MK will be refereed by Rebecca Welch, who will become the first female official to take control of a competitive Town match.

Welch was the first woman to referee an EFL fixture from the start - Amy Fearn had previously taken over from an injured referee during a game having been the fourth official - when she took charge of Port Vale’s 2-0 away win at Harrogate in League Two in April 2021.

The 39-year-old, who previously worked as an NHS administrator, has been refereeing for 14 years.

From Washington Tyne and Wear, Welch has refereed two Women’s FA Cup finals and is currently on UEFA’s elite list of female referees.

She became the first woman to take charge of a men's FA Cup third round tie when she was appointed for the Chesterfield-West Brom tie in January and later the same month was the first female to take charge of a Championship match. Preston’s 2-1 win at Birmingham. Saturday’s match will be her eighth at League One level.

Female assistants have run the line in Town matches for more than a decade.

Photo: Action Images

raycrawfordswig added 11:31 - Feb 21 Who cares if it's man, woman or a giraffe as long as they know what they are doing
28

Bazza8564 added 11:34 - Feb 21 I like this, there's absolutely no reason women can't make great officials, I'm hopeful she will have a great game and hopefully the novelty factor will soon be gone. Let's face it, we had some real numpties in the first half of the season, and apart from the muppet in the fog they've been a bit better of late
24

Saxonblue74 added 11:36 - Feb 21 Can't be any worse than we're used to!
3

FrankMarshall added 11:47 - Feb 21 About time really
12

Ipswichbusiness added 11:48 - Feb 21 Saxonblue74; true, we can be confident that she won't head butt any of our players!
4

itsonlyme added 12:00 - Feb 21 Excellent news! More power to her elbow! Hope she and us have a good game !
13

Fatboy added 12:16 - Feb 21 She's the first female official to take control of a competitive Town MEN's match.
2

mathiemagic added 12:49 - Feb 21 Not sure why this even gets any headlines at all, much like the gay Polish player just recently. Who really cares, certainly not news. Good luck to her on Saturday though, if she has just a fingernail of common sense and football law knowledge more than the usual no-hopers we get officiating in this league then she will do well.
5

ArnieM added 12:54 - Feb 21 Good for her. Might get some sensible decisions finally now then!
4

blueboy1981 added 13:14 - Feb 21 Good to see the Female Gender involved at this level of the Game in whatever capacity, they've certainly shown they can play the Game for sure. Why shouldn't they show how they can be as good, if not better, than some of our Male Referee's. Well Done Rebecca for your achievements, thus far. All Best Wishes. ⚽️
9

NorrisHatter added 14:09 - Feb 21 She officiated at a Stockport County game in the National League last season and was excellent. We were disappointed that she was then moved up a division, but then so were we and we had her again about 4 games ago in League 2. Once again excellent. So much so that every subsequent game where we have reverted back to the usual dross you will often hear fans shouting "please can we have Rebecca back?". She's diminutive, but obviously has some sort of on field aura that just results in the players behaving - you won't see many players gaining a ton of yards at throw ins for instance. My guess is that after Saturday you'll want her for every game.

3

Nobbysnuts added 14:27 - Feb 21 Can't be any worse than some of the men we've had...
1

Gforce added 14:42 - Feb 21 Is she related to Raquel.
0

Saxonblue74 added 15:55 - Feb 21 You're right Raymond, you are going to be accused of having no sense of humour! I'm sure she will have though, along with a thick skin so I'm sure she will do just fine. Maybe she will actually recieve a little more respect from players than her male counterparts too.
3

grumpyoldman added 16:13 - Feb 21 I look forward to the time when this is not newsworthy.
6

gosblue added 16:17 - Feb 21 I hope all the match officials have a good game and we don't notice them. That certainly hasn't been the case in several games this season. I don't want to hear any inappropriate shouts or chants from our section of the ground. Our club is better than that and so are 99% of our fans.
3

Wickets added 16:20 - Feb 21 I cant wait to see the first Town game a Giraffe Reffs !
1

OliveR16 added 16:51 - Feb 21 She'll have few problems being one of the better refs in this division.
1

maninashed added 16:58 - Feb 21 Oh so true saxonblue
0

RaymondovicBlue added 18:29 - Feb 21 Saxons blue. Agree to differ on the humour, but totally agree that I hope she gets more respect from players.... Also that she has an invisibly good game👍
0

Irishblueboy99 added 19:50 - Feb 21 Fair play, best of luck to her and her team hope they a good game
0

JimInGreensboro added 21:15 - Feb 21 The best referees are rarely noticed at all, male or female.
0

Lightningboy added 21:51 - Feb 21 She cannot possibly be any worse than some of the male refs we've had this season.........
0

NorthLondonBlue2 added 23:54 - Feb 21 I think a giraffe referee would have a better overview of the game tbh
1

Powrigan added 09:51 - Feb 22 And?
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