If you do not recognise the name Rebecca Welch, then by this weekend it should be impossible not to know who she is.
Welch will become the first female referee in Premier League history, when she steps on to the hallowed turf at Craven Cottage to officiate the match between Fulham and Burnley. Even better, amid all the Santa hats and fancy-dress costumes that are traditional at any festive football fixture, I will be present with both my football-loving daughters to witness a genuinely historic moment.
Sometimes, change truly is tangible, seismic and historic. For once, we can recognise this as it happens, rather than waiting for the later endorsement of history. Although it has so far still to go, it is impossible to overstate the positive transformation in the stadium environments of football and attitudes towards women since my first matches at Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park in the 1980s. Back then, the chant “get your tits out for the lads” directed at any noticeably attractive female fan was as common as home supporters blithely peeing down the Holmesdale End terraces.
Today, such a chant is unimaginable at Craven Cottage or any of the 20 other stadiums I have visited as a Fulham fan. At the Cottage, one of the first three female assistant referees (lineswomen), Sian Massey-Ellis MBE, is often seen running the touchline – to the best of my knowledge, without any abuse other than what male officials would receive over disputed decisions.
However, Massey-Ellis has been embroiled in controversies ranging from the derogatory sexist comments that cost the star Sky duo Andy Gray and Richard Keys their jobs in 2011, through to the Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero putting his hand on the back of her neck during a game. A former school-teacher, Massey-Ellis claims to focus so hard on the footballing action that she can block out the crowd.
Let’s hope Welch can too. Only last month, two 17-year-old Birmingham City fans were arrested for hurling misogynistic abuse at her during a Championship match.
Welch, who is 40, became a referee at the age of 27 only after a friend got sick of her moaning about the officiating and challenged her to do better herself. Like Massey-Ellis, she juggled refereeing in lower leagues at first with working, in her case as an NHS administrator. Born in Washington, Tyne and Wear, she once told the Sunderland Echo that, if anything, players treated her with a little more respect because she was a woman. We shall see this Saturday.
Welch has also said that she has only recently begun to accept her status as a trailblazer. For my daughters and me there is little doubt. Each of them has struggled to have their football opinions and knowledge acknowledged by males in both their work and social environments. Both have enjoyed the rise of women’s football that has led to the Lionesses’ success and sell-out crowds at Wembley and other huge stadiums.
But Saturday feels special. A woman is actually in charge of all those overpaid, over-dramatic, overgrown schoolboys. Welch, like my daughters in their life choices, has been the “change she has wanted to see in the world”. Let’s hope the men behind the VAR at Stockley Park don’t ruin the day for her – and the rest of us!