The Tamworth Football Referees Association Inc (INC 2000958) was officially registered on 28 August 2020. 

The Association has four main objectives:

• to represent the interest of its members in the advancement of referees and refereeing generally
• to support the local training and mentoring of proficient referees
• to encourage members and other interested persons to understand the Laws of the Game as published by FIFA
• to assist in the provision of referees to officiate in games recognised by the Association

The local football referee community consists of over 50 registered referees officiating games throughout the year across Tamworth, Gunnedah, Moree, Narrabri and Quirindi. 

With the closure of many canteens and other "at ground" fundraising campaigns there is a forecast shortfall of cash needed to cover the cost of promoting the role and supporting the referees generally. 

The cancellations in the season due to COVID-19 restrictions and reduced player numbers at the club level means that any shortfall is unable to be passed on to participating clubs who are already struggling. 

This financial strain isn't unique across the football community. 

Luckily however the Northern Inland region has a passionate group of football supporters and a few long standing referee stalwarts who aren’t willing to let the current circumstances affect the quality of football games played locally. This passion is the driving force behind the local Association with a renewed focus on ensuring our local referees, both junior and senior officals, are given the best opportunity to advance in their pursuit whilst creating a fun environment to develop their skills.   

UPDATE 2020 season:

The Association has been kicked off (sorry for the pun) with the support of a number of dedicated business people from Tamworth and Quirindi. The Association has now been incorporated with the help of the NSW Office of Fair Trading.

We have some exciting news.......

Joblink Plus has provided us an initial sponsorship package to kickstart the Association. 

JobLink Plus is a for purpose, not for profit job placement agency that works with regional and rural communities across NSW. They place approximately 8,000 people into employment and enrol 5,000 students into vocational training in a normal year. 

With offices across NSW including Tamworth they support communities through direct contributions, social enterprise, and grass roots volunteering. 

UPDATE 2021 season:

With the help of the local Lions Clubs and a few dedicated volunteers we have managed to restock the Gipps St canteen and open for business again. Although it has been a limited season and not many sunny days to  get a full game day in at the canteen we have managed to feed and water our officials and have some money left in the pot.

With the help of Bell Partners - Tamworth we have also been successful in receiving additional funding from the NSW State Governments' COVID-19 grants that will go towards assisting the Association achieve our long term goals. In addition to helping cover the cost of canteen stock that we could sell during lockdown this money will also be used to provide rebates against next years registration fees for those officials that join us for the 2022 season. 

Help us make sure the team you support gets the best officials on game day (even if you may not always agree with their call). 

Please donate today and share our campaign to your networks via the social media links above to promote our campaign further. 

Remember without  our referees keeping on top of their game you might not be able to keep on top of yours.