4. Who Referees the Referees? Why Women’s Football Can’t Grow Without Professional Officials

This week on She Shoots, She Tours! – The Deep Dive, Cath Hurley takes a hard look at one of the most persistent, and least honestly discussed, issues in women’s football: refereeing — and what it says about how seriously the game is really being taken at this stage of its growth.

As women’s football professionalises at speed, this episode asks why the people enforcing the rules have so often been left operating in semi-professional conditions. From inconsistent decision-making and player safety concerns, to the pressure placed on officials without the resources to support them, Cath unpacks how under-investment in referees has become a structural risk — not just a frustration.

This deep dive explores the full landscape of officiating in the women’s game: the reality of part-time versus professional referees, the role of IFAB, PGMOL and league governance, the limits of VAR and other technologies, and why tech can’t replace investment in people. It also looks at the human cost — including abuse faced by referees — and how that shapes confidence, retention, and the referee pipeline.

Digging into money, responsibility, and power, this episode argues that professionalising referees isn’t a side issue or a future ambition, but a foundational requirement for trust, safety and credibility in women’s football. If the game has grown up, Cath asks, when will the systems around it finally do the same?

Detailed, uncompromising, and grounded in the realities of watching the game week in, week out — let’s deep dive.