Martin Bodenham, who took charge of the 1997 Coca Cola Cup Final at Wembley between Leicester City and Middlesbrough, is now Referees’ Secretary with the Sussex County FA.

“We have just had 24 of our assessors, mentors and instructors go through Child protection and best practice workshop, and another 24 will be doing it early in February,” he says.

“As an active referee I know that there are so many things to be aware of these days from the moment you arrive at the ground. You can learn so much from this course, and at the end of the day if we can prevent just one child being abused then the whole exercise has been worthwhile.”

“For a county like ours with some 800 referees to monitor it has meant that administration-wise we’ve required a lot of extra resources, but we seem to be coping well.”

Martin is also convinced that the  referees’ mentoring scheme which has developed over the past few years is more than doing its job of guiding new officials through the initial steps of controlling a match and helping them become comfortable with their duties. He sees mentoring  as a powerful tool in the education and development of referees at all levels.

 “Mentors do a fantastic job,” he says. “In years gone by when I took the referees’ exam most people passed, but then often found it difficult to go out and put things into practice. It was very much sink or swim, but there is so much support now that I’m certain it helps tremendously with the retention of referees.”

“It’s an optional thing for people when they’ve passed their exam, but it’s a great support mechanism where their strengths can be highlighted and any shortcomings pointed out.”

In his role as the county’s first Head of Refereeing, Martin is using all the experience he picked up in 20 years of officiating at the top level to encourage the next generation. “I’ve been doing this job for just over two years now and there is so much I want to do in the development of referees, their recruitment and retention. I enjoy helping referees at all levels - teaching them good practice and how to manage situations.”

One extra challenge Martin is determined to take on is the recruitment of more women referees. “We had a women’s seminar as a result of which we recruited around half a dozen. I think we can do better than that as it doesn’t really reflect the growth in women’s football which is supposedly the fastest growing sport. There are physical and mental problems of women refereeing male adult games – and that might put females off, but there are all sorts of levels and such people as Wendy Toms have shown just how a woman can cope and become a top official.”

Martin is still an active referee at the age of 54, doing matches at Lancing College in West Sussex along with games in girls’ and women’s football. He is also constantly encouraging people to take up refereeing – confident that support from The FA has never been better structured.

Martin Bodenham can be contacted at martin.bodenham@sussexfa.com