“If you can’t manage personalities on the field and you can’t articulate your decisions, refereeing might not be for you,” says Dan Meeson, Professional Game Match Officials’ development director. We are in the cafe area of the Burleigh Court hotel, tucked away on Loughborough University’s campus, where a promising group of officials are being put through their paces by the elite refereeing body as they try to reach the top level.

The 29-strong group forms part of the Core X programme, designed to elevate into the professional game match officials from historically underrepresented ethnic communities who operate at semi-professional level. The programme, launched in 2023, runs in collaboration with the Football Association and is supported by the advocacy group Bamref. It accounts for more than three‑quarters of Black, Asian and mixed-heritage referee promotions into the professional game.

“What’s really exciting is that PGMO has bought into it and we represent the voices of our community,” says Aji Ajibola, who co-founded Bamref in 2019. “We are the only system I know in sport where officiating bodies are working together to deliver results. It shouldn’t be a surprise. We just need to double down on our efforts to make those results consistent.”

Most referees progress on an ascending scale from level seven to level one, with annual opportunities for promotion. Above that sit two elite groups for the Premier League and Championship: select group one and select group two. FA observers’ reports and feedback from clubs inform promotion decisions. PGMO, funded by the FA, English Football League and Premier League, oversees level one and the two select groups; the FA oversees levels two to four; and county FAs oversee levels five and below.

The underrepresentation of Black, Asian and mixed-heritage referees in this system prompted these organisations to work together and provide structured support. The aim is to give talented officials access to higher-level development opportunities, exposure and training. Core X officials mostly operate across steps three to six of the men’s game (tiers seven to 10). A couple of them combine that with officiating in the Women’s Super League and WSL2 and several others are also involved in the third- and fourth-tier Women’s National League.

Officials travel from across the country, from Bognor Regis to Carlisle, for a two-day programme. Loughborough suits the initiative. It sits in the Midlands, serves as a base for elite referees and connects closely to the wider professional sports world, with England cricket’s national performance centre just across campus.

“The aim with Core X is to create an environment where the person feels valued first, before the referee,” says Arran Williams, PGMO’s equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) manager. “So when it comes to Saturday at 3pm or Sunday at 2pm, they are the best version of themselves when they give decisions and referee their way up the pyramid.”

On day one Jay Hall, a level three referee and former RAF serviceman who is part of the Core X group, takes charge of Loughborough Students v Coleshill Town in the Northern Premier League. Working with him are Mehul Karia (National Group) and Emre Arslan. They officiate a physically demanding game in freezing conditions. The rest of the Core X cohort sit in the stands, observing.

This is not elite football, and it does not draw elite crowds. About seven or eight fans form the Loughborough “ultras”, drum in tow. Coleshill fans mutter at every decision. “He’s got that one wrong,” comes the familiar refrain, a reminder of the scrutiny referees face at every level. The match is abandoned at half-time when the pitch becomes unsafe.

As evening sets in, the off-pitch demands of refereeing come into view. The organisers provide a nutritionally balanced dinner in line with elite preparation standards. After, Gerd Dembowski, Fifa’s head of human rights and anti-discrimination, addresses the group.

“It’s vital to create inclusive environments in football,” he says later. “We need to support opportunity and development. That is central to Fifa’s work. We are here to support talented referees.”

The final day begins with a wellness walk, followed by a gym session led by the physical performance coach Will Davis. The group moves through cardio recovery on bikes, cross trainers and rowers, before strength and conditioning exercises. Resistance-band training features heavily, mirroring elite club setups.

“The high-intensity running is a killer,” says Taz Ali, a 21-year-old level-four referee in the men’s game. “If you don’t have a game on Tuesday night or Saturday afternoon, the expectation is that you’re in the gym doing match-replication work. We’re all here for a reason. These are the sacrifices.”

Peer-to-peer review drives much of the learning. In the first classroom session of the day, officials rank match clips by importance to their development. Ruebyn Ricardo, whose clips are under analysis, cannot attend. He is the fourth official for Charlton v Chelsea in the FA Cup and will later head to Anfield for Liverpool’s tie with Barnsley.

Referee coaches also attend Core X officials’ matches away from camp, keeping the learning live. Mark Haywood, Mike Riley and Mick Russell – former Football League and Premier League referees – act as coaches and add another layer of scrutiny. Their technical detail is precise. Referees should stay in lanes three and five. The optimal viewing angle is 45 degrees.

Psychology matters just as much. In one clip, Ali earns praise for his calm authority and open expression while refereeing an under-18s game between Burton Albion and Grimsby. Russell sums it up: “When a match is going well, tell your face: smile.”

Nicola Mtetwa, who referees in the Women’s National League and was recently promoted to level five in the men’s game, values the chance to celebrate progress in person, not just on a group chat. Balancing refereeing with work and motherhood stretches her.

“Your personal life, your work life, your football life, one of them drops,” she says. “How do you keep them all afloat without drowning? I can’t control what an observer thinks when I walk into a room. I can control how I perform on the pitch.”

In 2021 a report found that the FA’s refereeing system undermined efforts by Black and Asian officials to reach the top and that observer bias existed. Since then, all observers in the National League system and professional game have completed EDI training, operate under a code of conduct and face greater accountability. Referees can also give structured feedback on development and misconduct. After recent promotions, Black, Asian and mixed-heritage representation in the professional game stands at nearly 7.5%.

Ajibola says progress has accelerated since Bamref’s formation. “Look at that room. Men and women who believe in themselves, but who still need guidance. They need to learn how to articulate what football expects. That doesn’t come from the street. It comes from experience and opportunity. If you’re never given those chances, you can’t show how good you are. That’s why Core X matters.”

Farai Hallam followed Uriah Rennie and Sam Allison when he became the third Black referee to officiate in the Premier League. In a defining moment, he waved away a penalty claim for Manchester City against Wolves last Saturday, rejecting the video assistant referee’s advice.

“We can’t talk about Uriah in isolation, or Sam, or Sunny Singh Gill in isolation,” Ajibola says. “We need to talk about a system that keeps delivering.”

He gestures back to the group. “It still hits people when they see Ruebyn and Farai and realise they’ve been around for a few years. The future is in that room. We just need to make it happen.”