Before Welch stepped on the pitch on Monday, as referee between Harrogate Town and Port Vale, no woman had previously refereed an entire match in any of the top four series on the men's side in England.

- This is what I have worked for, she told The Guardian after receiving the message from the English League Association (EFL).

- The last ten years I have put a lot of hard work and my soul into the work and been rewarded for it by being promoted.

Getting this opportunity in EFL is fantastic for me.

Welch's merit list already included the ladies' FA Cup final.

But the League Two match was, according to the 37-year-old himself, her main task so far.

- This was not something I thought when I decided to become a judge eleven years ago.

It was not even on my radar, she told Sky Sports before the match.

ARCHIVE: Tess Olofsson on the Allsvenskan goal: "Difficult to set a schedule" (April 2, 2021)

Javascript is disabled

Javascript must be turned on to play video

Read more about browser support

The browser is not supported

SVT does not support playback in your browser.

We therefore recommend that you switch to another browser.

Read more about browser support

Tess Olofsson has the goal of reaching the Allsvenskan.

Photo: Bildbyrån