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30
Mar 2021
Harrogate set to make football history on Monday
The first female referee to take charge of an English Football League match will officiate at Harrogate Town on Easter Monday.
Rebecca Welch, from Warrington, has been appointed to referee Town’s game against Port Vale.
She has so far refereed in the Women’s Super League and men’s games in the National League.
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But the game at the EnviroVent Stadium on Wetherby Road will be a landmark occasion, which Welch hopes will encourage other women to take up the whistle.
She said:
In February 2010, Amy Fearn took charge of the last 20 minutes of Coventry City’s match against Nottingham Forest as an injury replacement.
However, Welch will become the first female referee to be officially appointed to an EFL fixture.
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