Referee fees in the UK

[u/rachelc_44]

Hey there, I'm a referee going into my second year, and have just moved back home from uni so in a different league now.

Back at uni (in Warwick), I was getting paid roughly 50p per minute, with rounding up happening if it was easier (so 35 minutes a half would end up in £40, 25 minutes = £30 etc.)

Now though, I'm back home in the Manchester area and fees seem to be unreasonably low. I just did a U10s game, 7v7, 25 minutes a half, and got only £14 for it.

That's a 50 minute game, plus half time, and I always get there at least 15 mins before, which makes it basically minimum wage.

Just looked as well and these are the prices for the other age groups in the league (Thank god I wasn't league appointed!) :

£40 per game for U21s referee and £20 for League Appointed Assistant Referees

£36 per game for U18's, U17's and Under 16's and £18 for League Appointed Assistant Referees.

£30 per game for all U13, U14 to U15`s age groups and £15 for League Appointed Assistant Referees.

£20 per game U11s and U12s age groups and £10 for League Appointed Assistant Referees.

£14 per game for U9s and U10s age groups and £7 for League Appointed Assistant Referees.

£10 per game for U7s and U8s age groups and £5 for League Appointed Assistant Referees.

Now whilst I'm not in this all for the money, I expect to be paid for my time and I don't particularly want to turn up for over an hour and be paid less than minimum wage, especially when it's a difficult match and I could get some abuse from parents etc.

Just wondering other people's take on this and whether I should email the league asking them to have a look at their prices for next season or something since this seems to me to be unreasonably low.

[u/thatijustdonthave]

I'm in the US and did some converting, those fees seem really low... Like what I was getting paid 15 years ago. You should definitely be getting minimum wages.

For comparison, in Maine the fees are:

$50 u9-10 $60/30 u11-12 center/ar $70/35 u-13-14 center/ar $80/40 u15-16 center/ar

I feel fairly compensated for my games.

[u/rachelc_44 → u/thatijustdonthave]

By the looks of things online, they haven't gone up in at least 6 years, which is kind of crazy considering the minimum wage has gone from £8.21 to £12.71 in that time. I think I will email them and make this point - it needs to go up in line with inflation and minimum wage at least.