Invite and prepare referees before matchday
Get the right officials in place early and make sure they can see what they need before the event starts.
Reviewed 26 September 2026
On this page
What you will do
Referee setup works best when you treat it as part of event readiness, not a last-hour admin task.
Before you start
- Invite officials early enough to chase missing replies.
- You need each referee's mobile number. Name, email and qualifications are optional.
- Assignments are made on the Schedule page, not the Referees page.
Where to go
- Referees
- Invite officials and manage their access.
- Schedule > Referees tab
- Assign referees to fixtures, or use Auto Assign.
How to do it
- 1
On Referees, select Invite Referee.
- 2
Enter the Mobile Number, and optionally Name, Email, County FA, Registration Number and DBS Expiry. Then select Create Invite.
- 3
If a referee has not received their invite, use Resend Email/SMS or Resend Login Link on their row.
- 4
On Schedule, open the Referees tab and assign referees to fixtures, or use Auto Assign.
- 5
Check Games without referee is zero if your event needs an official on every game.
Check you are ready
- Every expected referee is listed.
- Assignments do not clash.
- Games without referee is zero if your event needs one on every fixture.
If something looks wrong
If something looks wrong
If an official cannot see the right fixtures before matchday, fix it early instead of working around it on the day.
Change referee and score-submission requirements
- 1
Open Advanced settings and Referee configuration
Review the County FA, registration-number and DBS switches. The Referees page also exposes referee configuration.
- 2
Choose the intended requirements
Each switch saves through the existing referee settings action. Review Allow team managers to submit scores separately; conflicting team submissions are flagged for organiser review.
- 3
Check the requirements before inviting referees
Changing these switches does not invite a referee, send messages, verify a check or submit a result.
Remove a tournament referee
- 1
Open Referees
As a permitted tournament organiser or co-admin, choose the existing named referee linked to this tournament.
- 2
Remove the referee
Confirm removing the tournament invitation and referee link.
- 3
Check match assignments separately
The referee is not notified and existing fixture referee fields are not reassigned by this operation.
Approve a referee exception
- 1
Open the current controls
Open Referees and an active referee requiring an eligibility exception.
- 2
Review and save
Choose Approve Exception and confirm.
- 3
Check the effect
The eligibility exception is recorded; no invite, payment or notification is sent.
Resend referee access
- 1
Open the current controls
Open Referees and a referee with Invited status.
- 2
Review and save
Choose Resend Email or Resend SMS and confirm the delivery method.
- 3
Check the effect
The native workflow attempts one delivery to the stored destination. Link creation can succeed even when delivery fails.
Send an active referee login link
- 1
Open the current controls
Open Referees and an active referee.
- 2
Review and save
Choose Resend Login Link by email or SMS and confirm.
- 3
Check the effect
A new access token/short link is created and one delivery is attempted. A token can remain if delivery fails; no payment occurs.