One in six youth matches played without a qualified referee, survey finds

One in six youth football matches in England last season was played without a qualified referee, according to a survey of more than 4,000 grassroots coaches that paints the starkest picture yet of a shortage the game has spent a decade talking about and failing to fix.

The survey, conducted by the Referees’ Welfare Network, a volunteer body set up in 2022 by former officials, found that 17% of under-11 to under-16 fixtures were officiated by a parent, a coach or a substitute player. In three county areas in the north-west and the east Midlands the figure rose above 25%. Among respondents who said their league had a shortage, 71% said it had worsened in the past two seasons.

“We are now at the point where a 15-year-old with a whistle is the most senior official on a pitch with 22 children and 60 adults,” said the network’s founder, Gary Mottram, who refereed for 31 years before standing down after being followed to his car by a parent in 2021. “Nobody is pretending that’s acceptable. The question is whether anybody is prepared to pay to change it.”

The game’s governing bodies have invested in recruitment, and the number of people completing the basic referee course has risen in each of the last four years. But retention remains dire. The network’s data, drawn from county association records obtained through freedom of information requests, suggests that 43% of newly qualified referees do not renew their registration after their first season. The most common reason cited is abuse; the second is a match fee that, at between £20 and £35 for a youth game, has barely moved in a decade.

Hannah Rooke, 19, who has refereed in a Lancashire youth league since she was 14, said the atmosphere on the touchline varied wildly. “Under-nines are lovely. Under-14s are the worst, because the parents still think their kid is going to make it,” she said. “I’ve had a dad tell me he knew where I went to college. I reported it and nothing happened. I carry on because I enjoy it and because I feel sorry for the kids if nobody turns up.”

The network is calling for a national minimum match fee of £40 for youth games, a sin-bin system for touchline adults modelled on the one used for players, and a requirement that every youth club appoint a “respect marshal” who must be present at home matches. Several county associations already run marshal schemes, and the network’s figures suggest they correlate with lower drop-out rates.

A spokesperson for one of the county associations with the highest shortage said it was “acutely aware” of the problem and had doubled its referee development budget this year. “We cannot force people to behave,” she said. “But we can make it very clear what happens to them when they don’t.”