If you’ve ever found yourself watching a women’s football game at any step of the South Yorkshire footballing ladder, it’s probably been odds-on that the man in the middle of the park is Richard Trinder. But, before you start turning to your fellow supporters and blaming him for that questionable call, let’s take a step back and dive headfirst into the wild and wonderful world of a man who found himself wielding a whistle in the women’s game by complete accident.
Accidental Officiating
Mirroring so many careers in football, Richard’s journey into refereeing started without glamorous ambitions but with circumstance. Imagine the scene: It’s 1988, a Scottish football tournament and a younger Trinder who is just slightly too old (and maybe isn’t quite good enough) to play. Enter the picture, an organiser who was simply desperate for a referee.
“I’d never done any refereeing before,” Trinder reflects. “But they threw a whistle at me and told me to get on with it. And that was it.”
Would this be a one-off, one-time gig? Absolutely not. Many years later, as his son began playing junior football, Trinder found himself back in the centre of officiating in more ways than one. However, this time, it wasn’t an organiser’s desperation but Richard’s judgement of the poor standard of refereeing that pulled him back in.
“The standard of officiating was absolutely diabolical,” he says with a look of disdain. “You could see blatant cheating going on, and I thought, ‘I can do better than this.”
And so, with the potential of what most view as a thankless career ahead of him, he set off on a rewarding journey in the world of refereeing.
Finding His Feet in the Women’s Game
Trinder’s ascension through the ranks of officiating dragged him from the depths of muddy junior pitches, the finals of local cups and eventually to the top of SHWGL. But it was the women’s game where he found a community of clubs that truly needed him.
“The girls were complaining that the referees weren’t very good,” he says. “So, I thought, ‘Well, I’ll give it a go.’ And before I knew it, I was refereeing matches in the Women’s Championship.”
You read that right- Manchester United Women, Huddersfield Town Women, FA Cup fixtures- you think if it, he’s probably been there. While it might never have been packaged with the glitz, glamour or paychecks of the WSL (Women’s Super League), it has provided him with memories to cherish forever.
Freezing Feet and Whistle Regrets
One such moment arrived in a crucial FA Cup tie for Huddersfield Town Women, where, by now an experienced Trinder made a bold decision only a few referees would dare to take: playing advantage in the penalty area!
“I could’ve blown for a penalty,” he grins, “but I let it go. The striker smashed it in, and I thought, ‘That’s a cracking advantage!”
Yet football, being football, provided its usual twist of fate.
“At half-time, the manager pulled me aside and said, ‘Next time that happens, we’d rather have the free kick.”
It was the age-old case of you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Then, not so long after officiating for the Terriers, there was Richard’s starkly remembered freezing match. It was a game so cold it would’ve made the Arctic feel like Ibiza.
“The goalkeeper went to clear it, smacked it off her own defender’s back, and watched it loop into the net,” Trinder recalls, as the air from his lungs presumably turned to ice just thinking about it. “And then we had 30 minutes of extra time in pretty horrendous conditions where the players could barely see every time they breathed out!”
Amidst the chaos, several fielded players picked up injuries after being involved in heavy clashes and crashes with the hard, icy surface. A frosty experience.
The Challenges of Women’s Football Officiating
Despite his decades of experience, Trinder is likely the first to admit that the lower levels of women’s football still face enormous challenges in providing high-quality officiating.
“The standard varies massively from week to week,” he explains. “One match, you’ll have a qualified assistant referee and the next, you’ll use a sub from the bench as a linesman.”
Despite sounding a bit like a Sunday League horror show, it’s often the reality of an under-resourced area of the game. But, Trinder, as the Head of Refereeing, is quick to pick up on the impressive progress that is being made.
“When I first started, the Women’s League wasn’t even part of Sheffield & Hallamshire FA. Now, it’s fully integrated. That’s a huge step forward.”
So then, after all this time making big calls in the beautiful game, what stands out the most? Surprisingly, for Richard, it’s just the simple joy of making a difference.
“I’ll keep going as long as my legs let me,” he laughs. “There’s always another match, another challenge, another moment you just can’t predict.”
So next time you’re on the sidelines and find yourself questioning the ref’s decision about a penalty, a free-kick or a booking, spare a thought for Richard Trinder and his network of officials. After all, without their commitment, we’d all have nothing to shout about.
