How to become a referee and score extra income

Interested in making extra money as a referee, or maybe you want to know how much referees earn? Here’s all the details.

Are you a football fan looking for a flexible side hustle?

With a full training course and a love for football, you can become a certified referee overseeing local matches.

You can start training as a referee from the age of 14, enjoying the thrill of the game from the best spot in the house while earning extra money for each match.

Here’s everything you need to know.

How to become a referee

You may love this sport, the players, and all the rules, but you can’t just jump straight in with a whistle.

To qualify, you must take part in a referee course with the FA.

You need to live in England, and the minimum age to enrol on a course is 14 (there is no maximum age).

The course is run regularly by each County Football Association and costs around £135.

Training and learning

You need to take a few steps, and the training will take around 15 hours over the whole period.

• Online learning

Before you enter the classroom, there are a couple of things to do.

Ahead of practical sessions, you must complete an online safeguarding module and learn the laws of the game, which takes around an hour and a half.

For anyone 14-16, you must do the safeguarding online, but anyone over 17 needs to attend a workshop.

• Face-to-face learning

The referee training takes place over a full day plus an evening.

You’ll go through physical and practical training – be prepared to get tired!

During the evening session, you’ll hear presentations about conduct and responsibilities and learn how to deal with common issues.

• Referee trial

Once your training is signed off, you will need to be mentored and assessed for your first five 9v9/11v11 matches.

This will usually start with 5v5 or 7v7 matches to get you started before moving up to larger games.

• Qualification

Once you’ve completed five games, you must undertake an exam on the Laws of the Game.

This is a 30-minute multiple-choice exam.

As long as you pass, which I’m sure you will, you’ll become a qualified referee and receive a certificate and FA Referee badge from the FA.

You can then join your local league to be considered to ref future matches.

You’ll start off as a referee on Sundays or in independent leagues so you can build up experience before having a chance to move up and earn more.

Responsibilities

As a referee, as well as taking charge of the match, you’ll need to arrive early to complete paperwork and submit it to the football association after the game.

You’ll need to be confident about enforcing the rules and have a strong eye for what’s happening (there won’t be a VAR to help out!)

Key skills

To be a good referee, you’ll need to be highly fit, patient with thick skin, able to de-escalate situations, and have strong technical knowledge.

How much do referees earn?

How much you can earn part-time and the salary for refereeing a football match vary.

Amateur football games

Grassroots, Club Academy, local youth leagues, and amateur leagues pay can vary depending on the league and area.

Youth games can pay between £10 – £45 per game, while adult games pay between £20 – £55 for a referee, with an assistant (if needed) being paid slightly less.

Travel expenses may also get covered on top.

While it can be a little difficult to make money as a kid, one of our community members told us about her son:

“You can do it from age 14. My son has just qualified, and there is good money in it.

“It’s very lucrative. Every weekend, you can fill your day with reffing football and earn £20 per 5-a-side game (20 minutes) or £45 per 11-a-side.”

Another community member shared that referees can make around an extra £400 per month by picking up a couple of weekly games. And I guess it saves money on gym memberships, too!

Lower league – semi-pro football

When you start to get more experience, you can move into lower-league football.

Referees here can earn around £80 per game, plus mileage.

You may also get a meal thrown in after the match.

Referees are considered self-employed, so they must look after their own tax payments through HMRC.

Championship

Referees receive a retainer within Championship matches plus are paid on top for each game.

You may be looking at a yearly retainer of £38,000 – £42,000 per year, plus £600 per match.

Premier League

Premier League referees are paid on a salary basis and earn as much as £70,000 a year!

They received a higher annual salary and a payment of around £1,100 as a match fee.

It’s all down to experience.