Celebrating Successes and Looking Forward to a Bright 2024
As we step into a new year, our Chairman shares a heartfelt reflection on the remarkable journey and achievements of the Bootle Referee Society in 2023. It was a year marked by significant milestones, prestigious appointments, and a steadfast commitment to enhancing the refereeing experience for all our members.
2023 was a very positive year as we looked to enhance the refereeing experience for our members regardless of their goals. We ended the 2022-23 season with some prestigious appointments, with our Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Committee Members officiating on the showpiece National League Final at Wembley. We were not finished there as Francis Sibley officiated in the National League North Play-Off Final and Luis Griffiths in the U18 Premier League Cup Final at Villa Park.
Closer to home we saw Tom King awarded the LCFA Grassroots Referee of the Year and many more of our members were appointed to both Junior and Senior Cup Finals across the County.
The end of season produced many promotions for our members which are truly deserved. The highlights included Callum Jones and Elliot Bell being selected to enter the Elite Referee Development Group following a rigorous selection process held by the PGMOL. We then funded a number of pre-season fitness sessions for all paid members at Goals, Netherton.
Socially, we went on our first Summer Day Out and the Christmas Social which were both well attended and will now be a permanent fixture in our seasonal calendar. We hope more members will attend these in the future to have some fun and a good laugh outside of refereeing.
One of our highlights was our generous donation to Alder Hey Hospital where we teamed up with the Bootle JFL to donate hundreds of pounds of goodies to Children and Staff who would be experiencing a very challenging Christmas to many others. Hopefully this brought some of those in need some Christmas cheer.
Moving into 2024 we have lots of plans to further make your membership worth it as we kicked off with Graeme Riding from Everton FC delivering our January meeting. Stay tuned to your email inbox and keep the attendance up at the meetings so we can continue to make you the best version of yourself both on and off the field in a refereeing capacity.
All the best for the New Year and look forward to another positive year for you and for Bootle RA.