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Former Premier League referee Graham Scott reveals the vital training officials aren’t getting
Graham Scott was speaking at an event at Coventry University
University news / Research news
Wednesday 26 November 2025
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A former Premier League referee says officials are missing out on important “building blocks” as he admits “poor officiating can ruin matches but the best can enhance them”.
Graham Scott spent 10 years officiating in the English Football League before seven years in charge of top-flight games between the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. He retired from the game before the start of the 2025/26 season.
Speaking at a Coventry University event looking at how research can help improve the future of officiating across the sporting world, Graham told of his experiences in the beautiful game as well as looking at one of the biggest issues right now - the recruitment and retention of referees.
And Graham believes that training of officials needs to include much more than just knowing the rules.
When I trained in 1997 it was like learning to drive simply by reading the Highway Code. You learned the laws so you could recite them and then were given a whistle, a kit and told ‘that’s your pitch over there’ and off you went.
Now you do the course and then have five matches where you should be supported by the FA before qualifying. But even that seems to lack training in the areas of managing the game, dealing with disputes and stopping dissent, which comes on top of recognising fouls and decisions to make.
Without these building blocks in place they never get to the point of enjoying it and fall by the wayside. Some may continue but with the wrong motivation of simply a bit of extra income – you can go to some local games and see the ref isn’t bothered and that affects the quality of the game and the enjoyment for players and supporters.
Graham Scott
He was joined by representatives from a variety of sports including rugby, netball, tennis, cricket and more at the event organised by Dr Tom Webb, from Coventry University’s Research Centre for Resilient Business and Society.
The best referees and officials understand the role is an art and a science – they need to be consistent while understanding the nuances of the role as people’s expectations will change.
There is commonality between different sports and ideas whether that’s in football, ice hockey, basketball, cricket...that’s conflict resolution, dealing with pressure and errors, even a work-life balance as for many it’s a hobby or a second job, and those themes run across all sports – whether that’s an ice skating judge or a football referee, those pressures are similar.
Events like this allow us to look at how we can help officials across all disciplines. There is a big outcome of entertainment value and poor officiating can ruin matches or events but the best can enhance them.
There is demand from people to do the referee course but the single biggest challenge is helping them then move to being successful practitioners.
Graham Scott
Graham’s life as an official began after calling an end to his playing career aged 27 due to a back injury. Two years after hanging up his playing boots he was picking up the whistle for his first game in black in 1997.
However, the world of refereeing has changed significantly in the nearly 30 years since then with the introduction of VAR (video assistant referees), the impact of social media and the broadcasting of games all over the world.
So would a 27-year-old Graham had still fancied taking up officiating if he was starting out in 2025?
People are often drawn to refereeing or officiating by the challenge – we aren’t daunted by it, it inspires us and that wouldn’t be any different now.
You would know those are the challenges you’ll face. When I started I never would have been able to guess what would come. Every match is filmed and broadcast everywhere, so if you make a mistake it can be shared across the world in minutes, I never would have guessed that would happen, but people starting now can be prepared.
Graham Scott
Caption: Dr Tom Webb who hosted the sports officials event
Football gets huge coverage and some of the referees are the most accountable people in sport. Every match is graded and there is a table to see where you sit as a referee – most people probably don’t know that.
There’s huge accountability and they make very few mistakes - they get well over 90% of decisions correct. If a player has a pass completion rate of over 90% everyone raves about it but with refs they get judged differently. We need sports officials and they are just as much a part of the infrastructure of sports as players and supporters are.
You have to look at different populations to find officials; young people or those from different backgrounds and marginalised groups. We are trying to diversify as officials should be reflective of society.
We also want to get officials operating as groups across different sports to look at what they need, sharing knowledge and training and how we move things to the next stage. There are shared interests and goals that can generate ideas and we won’t get that unless we bring people together.
Dr Tom Webb, Associate Professor with the Research Centre for Resilient Business and Society
The issues of recruitment and retention are also the same in rugby union – a sport where respect for the man or woman in the middle is king.
It’s recognised that if you can get someone refereeing for two years then you have them for life. So while we get lots of people doing the training, it’s then can you get them into the activity and recruited into one of the 37 referee societies .
The refs at the top of the game are our shop window and what people see on TV is what they then do in the community game. But it’s important we don’t sit on our laurels if we want to keep bringing people in and we always show it is about respect for each other as players as well as refs.
Michael Patz, Match Official Development Manager at the Rugby Football Union
Find out more about the Research Centre for Resilient Business and Society.
