Sector
Match Officials
Referees, assistant referees and VAR officials, plus the people who develop, assess and support them.
How much do qualifications matter here?
Career ladder
Entry / volunteer
Youth Referee
Entry / volunteer Required
Refereeing youth and junior matches after completing an entry course.
Unpaid or expenses, up to £3K (UK)
Early career
Grassroots Referee
Early career Required
Referees adult amateur matches and progresses through local grades.
£1K to £9K (UK)
Established
Semi-Professional / National-List Referee
Established Required
Referees at higher non-league and semi-professional levels.
£5K to £28K (UK)
Referee Assessor / Observer
Established Required
Watches referees and gives structured feedback and marks.
Unpaid or expenses, up to £20K (UK)
Referee Development Officer
Established Strongly preferred
Recruits, trains and retains referees for an association.
£26K to £48K (UK)
Senior
Professional Referee
Senior Required
Referees top-division matches as a full-time or highly paid official.
£50K to £160K (UK)
Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Official
Senior Required
Reviews key decisions in real time from a video operations room.
£45K to £140K (UK)