We are delighted to announce that our Young Referee of the Year for 2023 is Sam Fletcher. Sam had an exceptional year of on-field performances, and was rewarded with promotion to Level 4 in the summer.

The trophy was presented by ADRS President, Steve Johnson.

We were delighted to see our President, Steve Johnson, receiving the Referee Mentor of the Year award from Cheshire FA at their recent presentation evening. Steve gives a substantial amount of time and effort to support and guide new referees around the district, and this recognition from the County FA is thoroughly deserved. Well done Steve!

We are delighted to announce that our Young Referee of the Year for 2022 is Bertie Gent. The award was in recognition of the consistently positive feedback received about Bertie’s refereeing, in addition to his dedication and desire to improve. Bertie also completed the requirements for his promotion to Level 4, which was awarded in early 2023.

The trophy was presented by ADRS President, Steve Johnson.

We are delighted to announce that our Young Referee of the Year for 2021 is Ruby Sykes. The award was in recognition of the outstanding year that Ruby had on the field, including promotion to Level 3W and some notable appointments on the Women’s pathway, plus her off-field support to fellow ADRS members in the form of mentoring some of our trainees.

The trophy was presented by ADRS President, Steve Johnson.

We are delighted to announce that our Young Referee of the Year for 2018/19 is Matt O’Shea. The award was in recognition of the work Matt did for the Society, the time he gave in mentoring our Trainee Referees, and for an outstanding on-field season which ended with promotion to Level 4 and appointments to the CCFA Youth and Minor Cup Finals, the ADFA Sunday Senior Cup Final, and selection for the Iber Cup in Portugal.

The trophy was presented to Matt by Premier League Referee Peter Bankes.

The celebration of success in Altrincham continued at the Cheshire FA Referee Awards 2019, where 4 of the 8 season awards were presented to ADRS members.

The winners, presented with their awards by Premier League and FIFA referee Chris Kavanagh, were:

Matt O’Shea : Academy Referee of the Year
For his dedication and performance throughout the season, adding to his Cheshire County FA Match Official of the Year award in the 2019 FA & McDonald’s Grassroots Awards.

Carla Parker : Female Referee of the Year
For her successful season on the field and her off-field efforts to help women’s football and refereeing in Cheshire.

Brian Coyne : Volunteer of the Year
For his contribution to the continued development of referees throughout the County, and in particular within the Altrincham District.

Bertie Gent : Young Referee of the Year
For his commitment and dedication to refereeing, his willingness to seek advice and learn from others, and his excellent on-field performances.

We’re exceptionally proud of all our members, both as referees and for the support network provided to each other.

Well done everyone!

We’re thrilled that member (and new Treasurer) Matt O’Shea has been named as Cheshire County FA’s Match Official of the Year in the 2019 FA & McDonald’s Grassroots Awards.

CCFA cited Matt’s “fantastic attitude to learn and develop” as well as the dedication shown by travelling back from Nottingham to midweek Cheshire FA CORE meetings.

“I am delighted to receive the CCFA Match Official of the Year award and would like to thank everyone from Cheshire FA and Altrincham & District Referees’ Society for their help, support and guidance throughout the season”, said Matt. “Being part of Cheshire FA’s CoRE and attending the regular meetings has helped me to add the additional 1% improvements into my game with a particular focus on fitness and positioning; whilst also highlighting additional improvements I need to make to my game to be successful at Level 4 and hopefully further.

In addition, regularly attending the monthly meetings at ADRS has added a social element into refereeing with people I am often on games with. This has also improved my game as we regularly discuss clips from games and incidents from our own games to get different viewpoints and to learn from experiences. This social element has been particularly important as I’ve had some of my toughest games this year with colleagues from ADRS! Also, having guest speakers at the meetings, such as Michael Oliver, has allowed me to learn from experienced referees at the top of their game. ADRS has also added 1% improvements to my game on a wider focus such a pre-season preparation and having a full understanding of the observation criteria.”

We are delighted to announce that our Young Referee of the Year for 2017/18 is Charlotte Phillips. Charlotte ended an outstanding season with appointments as Referee for a County Cup Final and 4th Official for a National Cup Final. In addition, Charlotte volunteered some of her time during the season to mentor trainee referees and serve on the ADRS Committee.

The trophy was presented to Charlotte by Premier League and FIFA Referee Michael Oliver.

Tom Cassidy has been presented with the award of Young Referee of the Year for the 2015/16 season. Tom has excelled on the field, gaining promotion to Level 6 and achieving success as a member of the Cheshire FA Referee Academy. When time allows, Tom volunteers as a mentor to share his support and experience with trainee referees in the District.

Tom was presented with the trophy by former winner and now FIFA Referee, Anthony Taylor. The presentation photo and a list of previous winners can be found here.

Congratulations to Rohan Anand who has been presented with the ADRS Young Referee of the Year award for the 2014/15 season. Rohan was presented with the trophy on Wednesday evening by Kevin Friend, Premier League Referee.

Rohan started refereeing at the age of 14 motivated by the potential to earn some money, but saw the potential to progress after transferring into the Altrincham District 2 years later. Attending Development Group meetings and using the wider support network to improve, Rohan progressed to Level 6 and is currently on track to achieve promotion to Level 5. He believes you get out of refereeing what you put in, and has given time back to help mentor new referees in the District.

Rohan follows in the footsteps of some notable names – the list of previous winners, and Rohan’s presentation picture, can be viewed here.