The first stage involved in becoming a referee is to register with your local County Football Association.
The second stage is to attend a basic Referees Course. This will involve around 10 classroom-based training sessions, followed by a written and oral exam, on the Laws of Association Football.
On passing the exams, you become Level 8 referee, if you are under 16 years of age, or Level 7 referee if you are over 16. You may then officiate on local amateur ("parks") football.
If you wish to become a Level 6 referee you must serve one year at Level 7 before being eligible for promotion. Promotion is usually decided through assessment, attendance at further training, successful completion of a test on the Laws of the game and a satisfactory average mark over 20 completed matches. The same criteria would apply for promotion to Level 5.
An assessment is when a senior referee (or retired referee) watches you referee, and provides you with a constructive report on your performance. Assessors also send a confidential mark on the copy of the report which is sent to your County FA
Level 5 referees may then be eligible for promotion to Senior Competitions (Level 4 rising to Level 1). This may involve refereeing in a "supply league - Level 4" (a senior amateur league at County level), and being an assistant referee in a "contributory league - Level 3" (a semi professional league). Further promotion would take you on to a Panel League - Level 2 and eventually, on to the National list of Referees - Level 1.
The final promotion would be on to the International list where we have currently 10 referees. However, certain age limits apply - minimum and maximum - and a fitness test must be passed before each season.
The standard FIFA fitness test involves:
• Eyesight test, (car number plate at 25m)
• Two runs of 50m each in less than 7.5 seconds
• Two runs of 200m each in less than 32 seconds
• A minimum distance run of at least 2,700m in 12 minutes of continuous running.
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 is currently 17. The maximum age for contributory league officials is 45.