There are five grades referees in Northern Ireland

• Senior - Referees who officiate in the Irish premier League and include our four FIFA Officials
• Championship - Referees who officiate in the both Championship One and Two.
• Intermediate - Referees who operate in one of 4 Intermediate leagues throughout Northern Ireland.
• Junior - The referees who operate in one of the many junior leagues
• Club - Club referees are those who are still involved with a club, but have passed their referees exam and have affiliated. They will take charge when there is no official referee.

How do I become a referee?

The first step is to take a beginners class, which culminates in an examination in the Laws of the game -
These course which are staged throughout the country by a qualified IFA Referee Instructor last 6 weeks and for details of these courses please e-mail referees@irishfa.com

Successful candidates are affiliated to the IFA through one of four Divisional referee associations. The secretaries are as follows -

• North East Ulster - Trevor Moutray
• Mid Ulster - Damien Basketfield
• North West - Gerry Morrison
• Fermanagh and Western - Basil Marshall

Referee Assessors

Referees are graded primarily according to ongoing assessment, with fitness, age and commitment secondary factors. These Assessments are carried out by a panel of former referees who attend matches and assess the referees according to FIFA and UEFA guidelines.

Referees Committee

All matters affecting refereeing are decided upon by the Referees Committee, a Committee which consists of 7 persons. Currently the chairperson of the committee is Fred Magee, with the vice-chairperson former FIFA referee Walter Clarke.  The remainder of the committee is made up from former FIFA and senior officials - David Best, Michael Ross, Adrain McCourt, Lesile Irvine and John Ferry.  Alan Snoddy the IFA Referee Development Officer also attends the meetings.

Fitness Tests

The Association requires all referees operating at intermediate ad senior level to meet certain fitness criteria, and all nominees to the FIFA lists of international Referees and Assistant Referees are compelled to meet the FIFA criteria.

Northern Ireland Referees Association

The NIRA is the umbrella organisation representing referees in Northern Ireland. Its current chairman is David Malcolm and its secretary is Eddie Ferguson.

Women's refereeing

Womens football is the fastest growing sport on the planet and refereeing is tryng hard to keep up. The Association has a small number of female referees, and is attempting to increase this number by staging all women beginners classes.

Any Females wishing to apply to become a referee please e-mail referees@irishfa.com

FIFA List - 2012

The current IFA officials on the FIFA List of Referees and Assistant Referees are

Referees:

 Mark Courtney, Alan Black, Ray Crangle & Arnold Hunter

Assistant Referees:

Gareth Eakin, Eamonn Shanks, Paul Munn, Andrew Neeson, Richard Storey, James Eakin & Tom Fairfield.

Referee Development Officer

In 2006 the IFA appointed Alan Snoddy as it's first Referee Development Officer. This role supports all refereeing actitivties in N.Ireland with a focus on recruitment, retention and promoting refereeing.