It is to recognise the valuable service referees and those involved in supporting referees perform in our national game.
The awards are for anyone who is involved in refereeing, acting as a retention tool and to reward those individuals who have put so much back into refereeing.
Active referees, assessors, instructors, mentors and anyone else involved in refereeing can be nominated, no matter which County they have served in or in which role as long as it is continuous service.
This could mean that a referee who lived in Middlesex and completed 10 years referees' service there and then moved to Hertfordshire and completed another 10 years in that County before becoming an assessor for five years, for example, has completed 25 years' of continuous service.
There are three awards, for the following periods of continuous service:
25 Years - Certificate
40 Years - Certificate
50 Years - Certificate and a medal with the individual's name and years of service engraved upon it.
It is not a requirement to have your application submitted be someone else. You can download the nomination form (right) and send it into Phil Sharp at Hertfordshire FA or email it to him by clicking here.
The application form ill ask for the applicant's details, including years of service for each role the applicant has given. For example, referee from 1980 till 200, county assessor from 2000 to present.
Once the application is submitted back to the County FA, the application is forwarded to The FA for processing and for consideration and approval of the Head of the National Game.
The certificate is then returned to the County FA to present to the nominated recipient at an appropriate event to recognise their achievements.
If you would like to discuss the scheme further please contact Phil Sharp on 01462 650220.