• Profile Stéphanie Frappart, a pioneering referee at the Bernabéu

Ten thousand British referees in various categories have thrown in the towel in the last five years because of threats and abuse. And yet, one woman, Rebecca Welch, 40, has decided to swim against the tide and become the Premier League's first female referee, oblivious to the toxic atmosphere on the pitches and in the stands.

"I feel like I'm done with my apprenticeship period," Welch told The Guardian three years ago, when he made the jump to the men's second division. "I've gotten to a position where I'm not going to let anything stop me from succeeding."

Just two weeks ago, he had to endure a chorus of misogynistic chants at the match between Birmingham and Sheffield. The meeting was momentarily interrupted and two teenagers were arrested as the perpetrators of the offenses against the referee, who remained firm in her work, convinced as she is that "idiots are a minority".

Its beginnings

Football ran through his veins since his childhood in Washington, Tyne and Wear, a town of 70,000 in northern England that boasts of being the land of President George Washington's ancestors. Becks Welch went on to play in the lower categories of women's football in the Sunderland area, inspired among others by David Beckham.

She won a competitive examination as an administrator in the National Health System (NHS), although her passion was still very much alive, to the point of simultaneously studying to become a referee for the Durham County Football Association. What started as a part-time hobby, on weekends, ended up becoming his main occupation from 2019, when he finally gave up his permanent position to devote himself to professional refereeing with all its consequences.

"I got into this because of a good friend who decided to be a referee, although at the time I didn't understand why anyone could go down this path," she acknowledged two years later, when she became the first female referee in the men's League Two, the first regional league.

That same year she decided to leave her doubts behind, continue climbing the ladder and become an inspiration for a legion of girls who are taking up football at younger and younger ages. "I feel extremely proud that I followed that path and that I also made my family proud," she said at the time.

His debut at Fulham

A year later she whistled the final of the Women's FA Cup at Wembley, and that same summer she won the Women's Euro 2022, finally won by the Lionesses of England on their own home. In the last Women's World Cup won by Spain, she was also one of the most sought-after referees, renowned for her extraordinary physical shape and for her "thick skin" in the face of abuse and insults.

On November 4, she marked a milestone as the fourth member of the refereeing team between Manchester United and Fulham. And this Saturday will undoubtedly be the main attraction at Fulham's ground, Craven Cottage, in the match against Burnley that will go down in history as the first refereeing by a woman in a Premier League match.

Pep Guardiola was one of the first to celebrate his election: "Excellent news. Hopefully in the future we can have more [women]. Everybody's more involved, that's good." "I wish her all the best, it will be a really positive thing," said Mikel Arteta, who is particularly critical of referees and VAR this season. "Diversity is an incredibly positive thing for the league. It's something we needed," said the Arsenal manager.

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe also welcomed the Premier League referee: "It's a great moment for football. The choice of a referee has to be based on their ability, and not gender, and this is a decision I fully support."

For Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino, the decision is not so novel. After all, he was already refereed by Frenchwoman Stephanie Frappart when she coached PSG: "She was really good, and why not? I think the capacity is there. We have to open our minds and people have to understand that what we are looking for is quality in refereeing."

The obligatory reference for Rebecca Welch is in any case Bibiana Steinhaus, the former policewoman who took the alternative as a referee in the Bundesliga in 2017, also paving the way for the Italian Maria Ferrieri Caputi (already a regular in Serie A) or the Spaniard Marta Huerta de Aza, who whistled at Old Trafford during the Women's European Championship. She also participated in the last World Cup and was the first female VAR in the final of the last Copa de la Reina.

  • Pep Guardiola