Promotion success for referees
It’s good news for Northumberland FA referees as all four candidates nominated for promotion from Level 5 to Level 4 have all been approved by The FA.
The four NFA registered referees, who are among 263 referees nationwide to have achieved this promotion, are Cameron Atkins, Kieron Smith, Daniel Taylor and Nick Vincent.
Smith, and Atkins, both 19, started refereeing five and four seasons ago respectively.
Taylor (23) has been refereeing for the past 9 years while 24-year old Vincent is now in his tenth season.
All four hope to progress further up the promotion ladder in the future.
Northumberland FA Referee Development Officer, Kevin Azzopardi, said: “I am absolutely delighted that all four nominees made it through. This is a justified reward for all four hard working officials who are great role models to our young referees. At the same time it also recognises NFA’s development strategy and selection process.”
There was more good news for local referees with 36-year old Kirk Freeth, in his 16th season, and 19-year Zac Kennard-Kettle, in his sixth season, promoted to Level 3 Match Officials.
Kevin added: “This was further excellent news. The higher the standard of our Match Officials, the better service we can provide to leagues and clubs. Full credit to Kirk and Zac for their utmost commitment and high degree of consistency they both demonstrated during the season.”