Who is Rebecca Welch? The trailblazing official set to become the Premier League's first female referee

Rebecca Welch is set to make history as the Premier League's first ever female referee when she takes charge of Fulham's clash against Burnley later this month.

The 40-year-old has been officiating in the EFL for several seasons, becoming the first female referee to take charge of a full EFL game when she officiated Harrogate vs Port Vale in 2021.

The same season, she was added to the EFL's national group list, which resulted in her taking charge of men's FA Cup matches. Welch previously officiated games in the National League.

She was also in the middle for the Women's FA Cup final in both 2017 and 2020.

A regular in the Women's Super League, Welch has officiated three games in the competition this season, and was also involved in three games at this summer's Women's World Cup.

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She became the first female referee to take charge of a Championship match earlier this year, most recently officiating Birmingham vs Sheffield Wednesday at St Andrew's last month.

In November, she was the fourth official for Manchester United's 1-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Welch previously worked with the NHS as an administrator, and while she became a referee in 2010, continued in her post until 2019.

Speaking to The Telegraph in 2021, Welch outlined her aim to inspire more women to take up officiating roles in football.

She said: "I get that there's got to be a first. But I'm pretty laid back, pretty likely to keep myself to myself, so I was hoping that the attention wouldn't be on me.

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"But it is, and it's there for a reason - we try to inspire younger girls or older girls who wanted to get involved and pursue a career in refereeing or a career in sport.

"I decided a couple of years ago to take a career break [from the NHS], just because I wanted to give football everything and I wanted to be in a position to, when I retire, sit back and say, I gave it 100 per cent and this was what I achieved."

Welch has been joined in December's referee selections by Sam Allison, who will become the first black referee to take charge of a Premier League match since Uriah Rennie in 2008.

The 43-year-old, who has worked as a firefighter, was promoted to the EFL in 2020 and will take charge of Sheffield United vs Fulham on Boxing Day.

He has taken charge of 12 matches this season, including six Championship matches.

Allison also had a successful playing career at the top end of the non-league pyramid as a midfielder, and took the rarely-seen decision to transition into refereeing after his retirement.

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He told BBC Sport in September 2020: "I believe I'm a role model and I'm trying to help others who look like me and show them that there is a path for them too.

"I don't even like saying I'm a role model. I want to be a 'floor model' so that others can stand on me to get up.

"I'm not one of those guys that climb the ladder and pull it up behind them. I want that ladder to be there for everyone to climb as well and I can just support as many people as I can.

"If I do that, I've done what I wanted to achieve."