The four EFL footballers training to become first ex-player referees in 30 years

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Working as a referee in English football may appear to be a completely thankless task to most people.

You work under an extremely high level of pressure and every decision you make is heavily scrutinised.

When you make a mistake, you receive a huge amount of abuse from a crowd of thousands in person, and even more online.

Due to these difficult conditions, Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body that’s responsible for refereeing in English football, have to explore different methods to ensure officials are up to scratch.

Not only do they need to make sure referees are continuously trained to help keep their performances high in a constantly evolving sport, they also are responsible for making sure recruitment is consistent and at a good level.

Therefore, they experiment with different tactics to ensure the English game is served with the best referees possible, amid a culture of increasing criticism and scrutiny.

One new method is a three-year scholarship programme overseen by both PGMOL and the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) that creates a pathway for retired players to get into refereeing.

The Athletic has revealed that out of 120 applicants to the scheme, 10 ex-footballers were selected last summer to take part. Four of these are well-known to fans of EFL clubs.

Carl Baker

A winger who made more than 350 appearances in the EFL, Carl Baker played most for Coventry City – notching up 160 games for the Sky Blues. The 42-year-old was also club captain for more than two years.

He also played for Morecambe, Stockport County and Portsmouth, while he won promotion to the Championship in his spell at MK Dons in 2015.

The Merseysider wrapped up his 20-year playing career by retiring in 2023.

Speaking to The Athletic, Baker declared he’s ready for the new challenge that’s in slightly different role on the football pitch.

“I didn’t know I wanted to be a ref or if I’d enjoy it or if I’d be any good, but I wanted to give it a go to see how it panned out,” the ex-Sky Blues man said. “As it’s gone further along, I’ve enjoyed it even more, to the point where I did a game on Saturday and the sun was out, I was in the middle of the pitch and I was thinking, ‘This is brilliant’.”

Anthony Griffith

Plying his trade as a defensive midfielder, Anthony Griffith is no stranger to yellow cards.

After being spotted playing for non-league outfit Glasshoughton Welfare, Griffith turned professional in 2005 when he was signed by Doncaster Rovers.

However, after a series of loan spells, he ended up moving to Port Vale – the club he’s most commonly associated with.

The 38-year-old played just shy of 200 games for the Valiants, helping them win promotion to League One in 2013.

The tough-tackling midfielder is now on the other end of cautions and is having to slightly adjust his demeanour on the pitch accordingly.

During a three-day camp at Warwick University, the referees-in-training were given 15 minutes to take charge of a game between two Pro Direct academies, as well as additional time running the line working as assistants.

This was an early chance for them to experience some scrutiny and feedback, with former Premier League referees Lee Mason and Phil Dowd monitoring performances and leading sessions afterwards to give advice.

Following the session, Griffith reflected on being gently pulled up after telling an unhappy player he needed to “sort his feet out” mid-match.

“You’re going to have to learn as you go but the feedback we got is that they don’t want to turn us into robots or lose your personality,” he said with a smile. “They just want to shape it a little bit rather than chopping the legs off it. That’s my personality, I like a laugh but when it’s serious time I can differentiate.”

Peter Vincenti

Jersey-born Peter Vincenti played as a winger at a host of EFL clubs, including Stevenage, Aldershot Town and Macclesfield Town.

However, he most prominently played for Rochdale. Signing in 2013, he helped the North West club achieve promotion into League One in his first season.

The 38-year-old scored 27 goals in 131 games for Dale, before moving on to Coventry City and securing another promotion into English football’s third tier in his solitary season at the Sky Blues.

As part of the camp at Warwick University, Vincenti saw two big calls he made during the game he took charge of scrutinised in the feedback session.

He had waved a penalty away and made a call on an offside – and both were deemed to be correct decisions.

However, as evidence of just how much detail the refs-in-training need to be working towards, the former winger was told he needed to be more obvious with his signalling for the penalty call for the benefit of both the players and those watching on.

Liam Trotter

In a professional career that spanned 452 games, Liam Trotter played across the divisions for a raft of different clubs.

Starting at Ipswich Town, he played just 22 games for the Tractor Boys in four years. However, after a few loan spells at Millwall, Grimsby Town and Scunthorpe United, he made a permanent move to The Lions – the team he played the most for.

In four years at the club, he scored 22 goals in 125 games, at one point drawing Premier League interest.

The 36-year-old spent the latter half of his career at Bolton Wanderers, Nottingham Forest and AFC Wimbledon, before retiring in 2023 at Chelmsford City.

If they reach a high enough level, there’s the potential to earn serious money as a referee in the upper echelons of English football.

There’s also some interest from current EFL footballers to join the pathway to become referees when their careers end.

Millwall’s Murray Wallace and Wes Harding, along with Stevenage’s Jamie Reid, attended a taster day but their interest is said to be “paused” until they’ve finished playing professionally.