The Football Association (The FA) has launched a new referee development curriculum to transform its approach to referee education across grassroots football in England.
Delivered through FA Learning, the new National Refereeing Curriculum will create a unified education system across the entire grassroots game, standardising delivery throughout the country.
Tailored to the demands of officiating at each level of the pathway, the curriculum will support match officials as they progress through the Foundation, Perform, Compete and Excel phases of refereeing, developing them as knowledgeable, confident, robust and effective managers of the game.
The curriculum uses online learning modules to cover essential subjects across each stage of the pathway – including Match Control, Handling Dissent, Foul Recognition, DOGSO (Denying an Obvious Goal-Scoring Opportunity), Tactical Fouls, Emotional Control and Wellbeing – providing targeted, accessible learning for referees of all levels.
This is complemented by face-to-face workshops designed to enhance match officials’ learning by putting their theory work into practice.
The FA’s ‘Grassroots to Greatness’ webinars for match officials will be focused on the new curriculum and will provide high-value continuing professional development (CPD) to match officials, with expert guest speakers ensuring sessions are impactful.
The changes will provide a consistent matchday experience, with additional resources and assets available to the County FA network to support their local offering of referee development and education.
Marc Birkett, FA Senior Referee Manager – Grassroots Referee Development, said: “Referee development is a priority area of our work, and the launch of the National Referee Curriculum is a significant step forward to support our referees within the grassroots game.
“Following consultation with our referee workforce, it became clear that a more structured and accessible development journey was needed to provide every referee with a more consistent and supportive experience. To help us achieve this, referee and match officials’ registration fees will be reinvested into our new curriculum to support this important area of our game.
“Through this coordinated approach, we will be able to link online education, face-to-face learning and practical delivery to help improve our education offering to our referees, which will positively impact them both on and off the pitch. We are looking forward to seeing its positive impact.”
The new curriculum will be rolled out this year, with the Foundation and Perform phases the first to be delivered. The Compete and Excel phases will follow in November and December, respectively.
