Rise through the ranks of Fylde's Championship referee Leigh Doughty

It was 9.30pm and Leigh Doughty had just finished refereeing an early season Northern Premier League clash between Kendal and Ramsbottom and it had gone well – or so he thought.
Fylde coast official Leigh Doughty will referee in the Championship this seasonFylde coast official Leigh Doughty will referee in the Championship this season
Fylde coast official Leigh Doughty will referee in the Championship this season
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Promotion to Championship for Fylde coast referees

“Both clubs seemed happy, I’d not had any yellow cards in the game and then when I got into the clubhouse, my coach tore me to shreds,” said Doughty, recalling the chilly response that took the edge off that balmy August night.

“He said I should have had three, probably four cautions and I needed to decide where my career was going. He kept me there for 40 minutes – most people had gone home by the time he had finished with me.”

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That was August 16, 2016. Coach Barry Oldham’s no-holds-barred review of his 90-minute Parkside performance proved a watershed moment for a young official long touted for big things, but frustratingly stuck at level three on the refereeing ranks.

Today, a little more than four years on, the 30-year-old father-of-two will take charge of his first competitive game as a full-time Select Group 2 Championship referee.

From a £45 a match hobby, he is now working his notice as a PE teacher at Carr Hill High in Kirkham to take a full-time contract with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) and is just one step from the biggest league in the world.

“I remember I was doing well on the line in the National Premier League and at the end of that season I had to choose between refereeing or being an assistant,” said Doughty, who lives in Freckleton with wife Lucie and children Martha, three, and five-month old Nellie.

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“I’d had conversations with my dad and then Barry sat me down after that game at Kendal and told me, ‘When you started refereeing what did you want to be?’. Before I could answer he said, ‘The man in the middle, so we’re going to get you promoted.’

“I had been too bothered about what games other referees were getting and where they were in the merit table. I had to focus on myself, my fitness, my diet and relax. And it worked.

“It’s crazy to think what has happened since with four promotions in four years. I just can’t wait to get going now, the Championship is something like the fifth biggest league in Europe.

“I’ve been asked if it was a tough choice to give up my teaching job but to be honest, while it will be emotional to leave, it was a no-brainer. School have been very supportive and I wasn’t expecting a full-time contract. But it’s been my dream for a long time to do this for a living so when I was offered it there was no real decision to make really.”

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It will be no gravy train though; as well as refereeing or fourth official duties up to twice a week, he will have to follow a strict daily fitness plan and attend post-Covid fortnightly training camps at Loughborough, where every key match decision will be pored over and analysed.

“As you go through the divisions you notice the scrutiny increases,” said Doughty.

“Clubs do their research on you, they know your previous games and what happened.

“We have access to sports psychologists who help us but it’s up to me to park anything untoward and move on to the next game.”

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Leigh took charge of Birmingham City’s Carabao Cup clash with Cambridge United on Saturday and was today (Monday) awaiting confirmation of refereeing appointments for the first league fixtures this weekend.

“I’ll be refreshing my email no doubt from 3.55pm,” he said. “Games will be behind closed doors initially but hopefully fans will be allowed back as soon as possible. When you cross that white line, you don’t really notice what else goes on or the crowd. That’s the mantra that’s been instilled in me since non-league.”

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