£1,230 raised for Trafford South Foodbank

We were delighted to be able to send an amazing £1,230 to Trafford South Foodbank which was raised during December by our members, their families and friends. The fundraising effort replaced our usual Christmas Raffle and enabled the Society to give something to the community during an exceptionally difficult time for many people.

Trafford South Foodbank is part of The Trussell Trust.

Taylor returns for second FA Cup Final

Altrincham’s Anthony Taylor will become the first person for 120 years to referee a second FA Cup Final after he and his team were appointed to this year’s showpiece.

Speaking to The FA, Anthony said “Of course, any Final is obviously a huge honour and privilege for the whole team to be doing and I sincerely mean that about the team because I’m in the fortunate position where I get to work with the same two assistants on every game both at home and abroad.

“It’s just an iconic occasion at the best of times, but this year is a unique one with no spectators. We know there are different circumstances this year and the 2020 Final will always be remembered because of this.

“But it was a little bit unexpected to get the call, having already refereed the FA Cup Final a couple of years ago, so I’m very humbled and equally honoured to have been asked to take charge of the Final again.

“It’s ironic that it’s the same clubs, but it’s now two different teams. Clubs who reach the Final don’t get there by fluke, and whichever teams end up in the FA Cup Final, it’s always going to be an intense occasion to officiate.

“However, any official who has refereed the FA Cup Final will say that when you’re appointed to the game, it’s not just recognition for you as an individual, it’s a recognition for all of the people who’ve supported you over the years and helped you to reach the elite level.

“That’s what makes the occasion so special, not just the match but that you get to share it with your close friends and family who will be there supporting you. Obviously, that’s not going to be possible this time, but there’s other ways and means that friends and family can be supporting us on the day.”

We wish the full team of Anthony, Gary, Adam, Chris, Lee, Stuart and Steve the best of luck.

Christmas Raffle Winners 2019

A huge thank you to all the individuals and companies who donated prizes to our 2019 Christmas raffle, and of course to everyone who purchased tickets. The funds raised make a massive positive impact to the training and development opportunities for referees in the Altrincham & District area.

The draw was conducted during the December meeting and the full list of prizes and winners can be viewed by clicking here

Young Referee of the Year 2019

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.

Matt O'Shea; YRotY 2019

Christmas Raffle 2019

We’re excited to announce the launch of our 2019 Christmas Raffle!  This annual event is our main fundraiser, enabling us to provide training and development opportunities to our referees throughout the year.  All support is greatly appreciated.

Entries can be made online via our JustGiving page … Click Here!

One ticket will be put into the draw for every £2 given … please remember to provide your contact details so that we can get in touch if you win a prize!  Prizes include a PS4 (with FIFA20), a Fitbit Charge 3, an Amazon Fire 8 Tablet and many more!

Please share with friends, family and colleagues.  Every ticket sold helps us to improve the standard of refereeing in the district.

The draw will take place at our meeting on Thursday 19th December, starting from 19:30.

CCFA Referee Awards


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!

CCFA Match Official of the Year

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.”

County RA Quiz: Runners-up

For the first time since 2014, we returned from the Cheshire RA Quiz with a trophy! It’s the trophy for 2nd place, but it still counts.

The hastily thrown-together team of Mike Ransome, Tom O’Brien and Stephen Brown dipped into some random trivia knowledge to triumph over everyone except one of the Stockport teams, who were worthy winners … again!

Time to start revising for 2020 …

ADFA Cup Final Appointments

Congratulations to all officials on the following appointments to the 2018/19 Altrincham & District FA Cup Finals:

ADFA Senior Cup Final
Referee: Oliver Chow
Assistant Referees: Tom O’Brien and James Memory
Fourth Official: Graham Anderson
Tie to be played on Thursday 18th April, 19:30 at Altrincham FC.

ADFA Sunday Senior Cup Final
Referee: Tom Cassidy
Assistant Referees: Matthew O’Shea and Mikolaj Mars
Fourth Official: Alex Phillips
Tie to be played on Tuesday 23rd April, 19:30 at Altrincham FC.

Christmas Raffle Winners 2018

A huge thank you to all the individuals and companies who donated prizes to our 2018 Christmas raffle, and of course to everyone who purchased tickets. The funds raised make a massive positive impact to the training and development opportunities for referees in the Altrincham & District area.

The draw was conducted during the December meeting and the full list of prizes and winners can be viewed by clicking here.