Rebecca Welch makes Premier League history

Rebecca Welch will be the first woman to referee a Premier League match

Even in the Premier League è a wall has fallen: in fact, in the referee designations of the English top league appears, for the first time in history, the name of a woman: it is Rebecca Welch, who next December 23 will directà the challenge between Fulham and Burnley, valid for the 18th day of the Premiership.

Welch had already had an experience in the Premier League, last Nov. 4: in fact, she had been designated as the fourth match official in another challenge with Fulham on the field, against Manchester United  (1-0 result for the Red Devils). she had already been, moreover, the first woman to referee in the FA Cup and the Championship, the 'B' English.

Prior to refereeing full-time, Welch worked for the NHS, the National Health Service, in an administrative capacity, a role she also held between 2010 and 2019, that is, in her first nine years of refereeing. Since 2015 è on the FIFA referee list and from 2020 è on the UEFA elite women's list, which features another match director of international caliber Stephanie Frappart.

The challenge between Fulham and Burnley will therefore be among the most interesting, also for this reason, of a Christmas period that as per tradition sees a busy schedule of matches for the Premier League: as usual, in fact, it will also be played in the run-up to Christmas, on Boxing Day and even on December 31 and January 1, 2024.