That’s A First!

History was made on Tuesday evening, in the game between Coventry and Forest, when for the first time ever, a female took charge of a football match in the Football League.

Amy Fearn (formerly Amy Raynor) took over from injured ref Anthony Bates in the game, when he had to retire with a leg injury after 70 minutes.

A very excited Amy told the football-league.co.uk. ‘It was great – I could get used to that every week. I always have a laugh before the game with the referee saying, ‘go on give me ten minutes’.

Thankfully for Amy, the game went well and there was nothing controversial for her to deal with. This will raise the profile of women in football and will also take her one step closer to fulfilling her dream of one day refereeing in the Premiership. Whether she accomplishes that dream or not remains to be seen, but I bet former Luton Town manager Mike Newell has his head in his hands, after hearing of Amy’s exploits. It’s also another in a long line of firsts for Forest. We were the first team to play in red. The first team to introduce shin pads. The first team to play with nets and under floodlights. We were also the first club to have lettered seating and of course we were the first team to have won the European Cup (TWICE!) and to play in the third tier of their domestic leagues. Go us.