How a knee injury led Louise Thompson from player to FIFA referee — BBC Bitesize

A bad knee injury during a match set Louise Thompson on a path she never expected — from player to one of Northern Ireland's most prominent match officials.

From the pitch to the whistle

Thompson, now the women's referee pathway officer for the Irish Football Association (IFA), a FIFA international referee and an NIFL Premiership referee, told BBC Bitesize that she fell into officiating almost by accident. “Becoming a referee for me sort of happened by chance to be honest,” she said. “It was during a game, one time I got an injury, quite a bad injury to my knee and then I had seen luckily that the referee course was being advertised.”

She signed up for the referee course alongside a coaching qualification, unsure which route to take. “I wasn’t really sure which role I wanted to follow, but over that winter I had been pushed into refereeing a wee bit and said sure, why not, I’ll give it a go, it’d be a bit of extra fitness before my season restarts, and then just fell in love with it from there and never looked back.”

A lifelong love of the game

Football had been a constant in Thompson’s life from primary school, even when opportunities for girls were scarce. “We just didn’t have very many female teams, so it normally meant playing with the boys and the boys teams and stuff up until I was about 14, which was the minimum age here you can join senior ladies football team,” she said. She played for 14 years at a local club, rising to the Women’s Premiership.

Recruiting the next generation

In her role with the IFA, Thompson looks after female referees across Northern Ireland, working to “recruit, retain and give them experience within their games to push through into top level refereeing.”

Training begins with recruitment courses and a beginners’ course covering the Laws of the Game. “We also do a hands-on part of that course where they go onto the pitch and we go through different scenarios… exactly what you do as a referee, and day-to-day practical stuff as well,” she explained. Candidates learn positioning, free-kick management, corner and penalty setup, pitch and equipment checks, and how to interact with players and coaches, often through role-play so they are not “going totally blind into that sort of situation.”

Education and skills

Thompson studied PE at GCSE and A-level before taking Sport and Exercise Science at university, knowledge she says helps with fitness, nutrition and understanding “how your body works.” She also highlights languages as valuable “especially when you’re dealing with a lot of international games and people coming along.”

Among the transferable skills she cites: people management, communication, confidence, staying calm under pressure and decision-making.

Career highlights and progression

Thompson’s rise was swift — she refereed the Women’s Irish Cup final around 11 months after qualifying, and has officiated a UEFA Women’s Champions League match at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais as Lyon faced Benfica. “Walking out on the pitch at your own national stadium as the referee of a big final… was definitely a pinch-me moment,” she said.

All four UK nations run established pathways from grassroots to FIFA level. Thompson started with under-13 games — “I still remember my first game to this day… I was definitely the most nervous person on the pitch” — and progressed with the help of mentors who “come and watch you, give you advice, give you feedback.”

How old do you need to be?

The minimum age to qualify as a referee varies across the UK:

• England: 14
• Northern Ireland: 14
• Scotland: 16
• Wales: 14 (the course can start at 13, but officiating begins at 14)

Her advice to aspiring referees

Thompson’s message is simple: give it a go. “You never know until you do it. I think even when I was a player, I probably never imagined that I would be a referee,” she said. “It’s also about probably pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, being comfortable with being uncomfortable.”

She added: “There’s probably a lot more stigma around being a referee — who wants to be a referee? — but honestly for me, it’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve probably ever done. You find so much more out about yourself that you probably never knew.”

Remuneration varies by league and standard, and the IFA officer pointed to the rapid growth of the women’s game as a source of new opportunity: “Remember how fast the women’s game is growing and how many opportunities that brings!”