It gives Westmorland County FA great pleasure to announce that several members of its Donald Shepherd Referee Academy will be refereeing games in the Westmorland County Cups throughout January and February.

We often congratulate the teams for reaching the later stages of the cup competitions, however, we also see the hard work and dedication that goes into refereeing and these appointments are testament to that. 

The Referee Academy meets once every month for training both on the field of play and in the classroom. Since training has started, we have seen a marked improvement in our referee’s ability and confidence. Last season our under 18 referees achieved some incredible appointments. Abigail Greenwood, Eve Murray and Isabelle Wall Budden officiated the Lancashire Schools under 14 Girls Final and Oliver Jervis refereed the boys under 16 final, both games were played at AFC Darwen in front of a 300+ crowd. 

The referee academy has continued its good work and we’ve welcomed some amazing guest speakers this season. In October we welcomed National List referee Seb Stockbridge from Durham. Seb had a long weekend, as he had refereed Hereford v Portsmouth in the FA Cup First Round before travelling to Dallam School to deliver our Monday night meeting. It’s been obvious the referees have been listening and taking on board the advice from the academy sessions. So well done everyone!  

The SM Jones Trophy sponsored by Bowes Dairy Produce will see Jude Evans, Kyle Simpson, Jack Wakefield and Barney Tollerson referee the quarter final ties. These games include teams from across  the Kent Valley Junior Football League and the Lancaster and Morecambe Service to Youth League. 

Eve Murray, Jed Pickering, Isabelle Wall Budden and Oliver Barnes will referee the Quarter finals of the Under 13s cup sponsored by Matty’s Barber shop. Eve, Jed and Oliver are all working towards promotion on the new referee progression pathway. Whilst Isabelle has also been appointed to an EFL Floodlit Cup game between Morecambe and Carlisle United! 

The Dallam Tower cup sponsored by Webbs Kitchens and Bathrooms games will be overseen by Evan Dart, Abigail Greenwood and Mark Brady. The Minor Cup sponsored by Baxendale Fitness, has four very eagerly anticipated cup ties. Johnathon Taylor, Andrew Bland, Mark Brady and Alan Jackson have been appointed to take charge of these fixtures. 

We also have our under 18 competition this season, Jonathan Taylor and Bernard Law will referee the next round of games. There is also an appointment for Michael Leahy, before Christmas Michael refereed a Lacrosse World Cup Play off game between Kenya and Holland! A great achievement in a different sport. 

There is also a special Mention to Evan Dart, who at the age of only 16 has been appointed to the County FA Senior Cup tie between Kendal Town and Appleby. Evan will be an assistant referee and the appointment is very much a deserved one. 

Finally, some of our Under 18s might not have received an appointment yet. We would like to encourage you to attend training, keep refereeing and enjoy your time officiating games. We still have quarter finals, semi finals and finals to appoint too.

Keep up the good work and we hope to see you all officiating soon!