10 Feb 2010First female referee makes history in Championship

Football Referees, Players, Managers and Media

Amy Fearn became the first woman to referee a Football League game in England last night (February 9th).

With a leg injury forcing original match official Tony Bates to limp off after 71 minutes of the Championship clash between Coventry City and Nottingham Forest, assistant referee Fearn was called into action for the remainder of the match.

The closing stages of the game passed without incident at the Ricoh Arena, with the Sky Blues running out 1-0 winners thanks to a first-half goal from Freddy Eastwood.

Fearn previously made headlines in November 2006, when her performance as assistant referee in a Championship fixture between Luton Town and Queens Park Rangers was the subject of a stinging attack by Hatters boss Mike Newell.

The former Blackburn Rovers striker was forced to apologise and fined £6,500 by the FA after labelling the presence of female officials in professional football as "tokenism for the politically-correct idiots".

Newell was unhappy that his side were not awarded a penalty in the 3-2 defeat at Kenilworth Road.

Written by Mark Thompson

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