Albion kit man Harry climbs the refereeing ladder

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Our general kit assistant is climbing up the refereeing ladder.

2024-07-31T06:00+01:00

Harry Wood always wanted to work in football – even when as a youngster he knew he wasn’t going to be good enough to be a player.

So he did what he thinks is the next best thing and qualified as a referee.

That was back when he was 14 and his mother Susan enrolled him on a course run by the Sussex County FA.

Harry Wood first got into refereeing when his mum Susan booked him on a course for trainee refs. Photo: Simon Roe/Sussex FA

A few years later, Harry was refereeing Albion’s first team in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Fulham as his progress up the refereeing ladder continues.

Now aged 26, Harry can combine his full-time role as the club’s general kit assistant with his refereeing career. His job does not involve Saturday working which means he can referee games up to Step 3 level which means games in the Isthmian League premier division.

He said, “I’m really grateful to everyone at the club because I have a job I love which also gives me the opportunity to referee on Saturdays and often Tuesday nights as well.

“The club have been so supportive and so has everyone at the Sussex FA. They have a brilliant scheme to train and mentor referees and you can start young like I did in the Mid Sussex Youth League and progress from there. The younger the better in all honesty.

“It’s quite funny that the club have a trained referee on their staff! The Fulham game took place during Covid so there were restrictions in place but it was still a bit weird being called by my first name by our players when they got a decision and ‘ref’ when they didn’t!

“I love refereeing and I would like to referee at the highest possible level. I would encourage anyone with a passion for the game to get in touch with the Sussex FA and go from there. It’s such a rewarding thing to do.”

Harry works full-time for Albion as a general kit assistant. Photo: Paul Hazlewood

Sussex FA referee development manager Paul Jeffery says they are proud of what Harry has achieved.

“Harry’s refereeing journey started back in 2012. He showed early promise with his refereeing skills and became a member of the Sussex FA Refereeing Development Group structure.

“County FA refereeing promotions followed in quick succession, leading into Harry being nominated to the FA for promotion from Level 5 to Level 4. Harry took this all in his stride, and with his persona, his feet remained on the ground. The National FA CORE (Centre of Refereeing Excellence) invitation came, and Harry was successful in selection process, allowing Harry to work with a group of aspiring officials.

“His latest promotion came at the end of the 23/24 season, where he was further promoted by the FA to Level 3. As a county, we are naturally proud of Harry’s achievements so far, the person that he has developed in to, and remained so level headed.”