Later this month, Rebecca Welch will create history as the first woman to referee a Premier League match, while on Boxing Day, Sam Allison will make history as the first Black man to officiate a top-flight game in 15 years.
The 40-year-old Welch will take charge of the Fulham-Burnley match on Dec. 23, while Allison will be the man in the middle for Sheffield United’s home game against Luton three days later.
Uriah Rennie was the last Black referee to take charge of a Premier League game in 2008, having officiated in the competition for 11 years up to that point.
Welch started as a referee in 2010 while working in an administrative capacity in the NHS before going into officiating on a full-time basis. She made history in April 2021 when she became the first woman to be appointed to referee an EFL match, taking charge of the League Two fixture between Harrogate and Port Vale.
Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer of Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), said: "Rebecca is a really calm, focused individual on the field. She commands a lot of respect in a pretty understated way. She has a good reading of the game, is an accurate decision-maker and a good athlete on the field too.
"She has worked hard to get to this position over several years. She has worked hard physically, technically and really does deserve this opportunity. I went to see her myself recently in a game in the Championship and was highly impressed by what I saw in terms of her command of the game.”
Welch has also regularly refereed high-profile games in the Women’s Super League and took charge of the 2017 and 2020 Women’s FA Cup finals at Wembley, as well as matches at the 2022 Women’s Euro and this year’s Women’s World Cup.
She was also the first woman to officiate in the men’s Championship and FA Cup third round, and was the fourth official for last month’s Premier League encounter between Fulham and Manchester United.
Allison, 42, played with Swindon, Bristol City, Bournemouth and Exeter and had worked as a firefighter before focusing full-time on officiating.
"Both Rebecca and Sam were part of the development group that was created last year. They went through a selection process to be part of that,” Webb added.
"Credit to them; they have delivered good performances in the Championship this season and deserve their opportunities due to their quality and the talent that they have."
Allison has taken charge of over 100 matches in the EFL, and his first Premier League exposure came in October 2022 when he was the fourth official in the fixture between Brighton and Chelsea.
