The first stage is to register with a County FA. County FAs are the regional representatives of the national Football Association, and control all amateur football in their respective areas.

The Rotherham area is overseen by Sheffield & Hallamshire CFA,  All county FAs charge an annual referees' registration fee. This includes public liability insurance cover. Apart from in an emergency, only registered referees are permitted to officiate in any association football games.

 If you live in England but outside the Rotherham area, we suggest that you contact The Football Association. If you live elsewhere, try visiting the FIFA web site to find your own national FA, as the following information will probably not be relevant to you.

The next stage is to attend a Referees' Training Course. The first part will involve classroom-based training sessions, followed by a written exam on the Laws of Association Football. For details of courses please see link at the top of this page.
On passing the exam, you are then ready to begin active refereeing.

The Referees' Association
It is highly recommended that you join your local branch of the Referees' Association, of which we are one. Benefits usually include advice and support, regular meetings, training sessions, the opportunity to purchase kit and supplies, personal accident and kit insurance cover, contact with senior referees and so on. The subscription to Rotherham RA is only £17 (£8 if under 18), which is barely more than one match fee in most amateur games and includes affiliation to the National Referees' Association and the Rotherham Referees' Association.

Further Promotion
The next promotion is to Level 6. You must be at least 16 and serve one year at Level 7 before being eligible for promotion. The requirements for promotion to both levels 6 and 5 are normally as follows:
a) three practical assessments of your performance
b) to officiate in at least 20 games during the promotion season (1 March to 28 Feb)
c) to attend any in-service training sessions arranged by your County FA
d) to complete a written examination as required by your County FA
An assessment is when a senior referee (or retired referee) watches you and provides a constructive written report on your performance. They also send a confidential mark with your report to the County FA, and it is these assessors' marks which give the main indicator of whether you are ready for promotion. For exceptional referees, it is now possible to be promoted directly from level 7 to level 5!

Level 4 referees may then be eligible for nomination to Senior Competitions. This may involve refereeing in a supply league and being an assistant referee in the contributory leagues. However, age limits apply and a fitness test must be passed before each season.

The standard FIFA fitness test will involve:
1. Eyesight test, car number plate at 25m.
2. 50m sprint in less than 7.5 seconds.
3. 200m sprint in less than 32 seconds.
4. 15 minute break.
5. A distance run, 12 minutes continuous running covering at least 2,700m.

Age Limits
The minimum age to be registered as a referee is 14.
Junior Referees aged 14-15 may only officiate in competitions where the players are under 16.
The minimum age for promotion to Level 5 and above is 17.
The maximum age to officiate on Contributory League football is currently 45.

Levels
As at 1 June each year Referees will be classified at the following levels:

1. Referees selected to serve on the National List
2. Referees selected to serve on the Panel List
3. Referees selected to serve on the Contributory Leagues
4. Referees selected to serve on a Supply League
5. Senior County Referees
   This includes all referees who have previously served at a higher level
6. County Referees
7. Junior Referees not in Level 8 or below
   Note junior means in terms of refereeing status, not age!
8. Youth Referees (all referees between 14 and 16 as at 1 March)
   A level 8 referee automatically becomes level 7 on his 16th birthday
9. Trainee Referees
10. Declared Non-active Referees
    This includes instructors and assessors who no longer referee themselves but wish to remain registered to stay involved