page_title: Amy Fearn
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Amy Fearn / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: English football referee Amy Fearn awards a free kick to Derby County L.F.C. in their match at Lincoln Ladies F.C. in February 2010.
context_page_description: Amy Elizabeth Fearn is an English football referee from Loughborough, Leicestershire, who in 2010 became the first woman to referee in The Football League. With a degree in economics and a full-time career in accountancy, having also refereed football since age 14, she became only the second woman after Wendy Toms to rise to the position of assistant referee in English professional football. On 9 February 2010 she became the first woman to act as the main referee in a Football League match.
context_section_description: She grew up in Staffordshire, where, as a girl, she expressed a desire to play football with her brother. However, she grew frustrated at the lack of opportunities to play because no girls' football facilities were available at the time. When she was 13, her father went on a course to gain a qualification as a referee, something which inspired Rayner to do the same. She qualified just after her 14th birthday. Being under 16 meant she could only referee those at under 12 level, something which she did for two years. When she became 16, the restriction was lifted, and she began refereeing in the Midland Football Alliance before being promoted to the Football Conference, aged 26. Around this time, she was given responsibilities as an assistant referee, also being appointed to the FIFA assistants' list in 2005. She balances her football officiating duties with a full-time job as a Management Accountant for Santander in Leicester. In 2006, aged 28, she expressed a desire to move up to the Football League.
  On 9 February 2010 Fearn became the first woman to take full control of a Football League match as the match referee. The original referee Tony Bates suffered a calf strain, and Fearn, as senior assistant on the day took over for the last 20 minutes of Coventry's 1-0 Championship win over Nottingham Forest at the Ricoh Arena.
  In 2013, she became the first woman to referee an FA Cup Game in the Main Draw
caption: Fearn awards a free kick
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