Melissa Burgin was inadvertently thrust into the limelight by a well-meaning tweet at a non-League football match – and her new-found role model status has since done wonders for women’s sport.
The 20-year-old was one of the assistant referees at Garforth Town’s recent 1-1 draw with Hall Road Rangers when her hairstyle caught the attention of a young girl in the crowd behind her.
The girl’s dad tweeted a picture of the pair and it went viral overnight.
It was re-tweeted over 6,500 times, received an enormous 27,000 likes, and ignited an interest in women’s sport, and refereeing, from a new and different audience.
— Hullablue (@hullablue) October 14, 2017
“It’s nice that things like that trend online,” said Burgin, at the beginning of FA Girls' Football Week. “It was obviously a big surprise. But it’s quite touching that we’re inspiring the younger generation.
“It just shows that the women’s game is growing.”
But Burgin’s career might not have been the success story it is threatening to become.
A budding young player, she was released by Sheffield United when she was 15, and turned to refereeing Sunday League matches as a way of coping with the setback.
And now a Level 4 referee, who recently took charge of an U15s women’s international at St. George’s Park, Burgin has designs on reaching the very top.
She explained: “Refereeing was my way of dealing with what happened.
“It wasn’t something I had expected to do, but it’s now something I really enjoy. In fact, I enjoy refereeing more than I ever enjoyed playing.
“Before I started I’d never thought of refereeing as a career. But I’ve fallen in love with it. It’s something I want to pursue and hopefully go as far as I can with.”
Burgin has just entered the final year of a coaching and sports science degree at Nottingham Trent University.
“I help out by refereeing the BUCS fixtures on a Wednesday,” she added.
“I usually referee Tuesday nights and at the weekend. It’s quite easy to juggle the two at the moment, but that might change once my uni workload builds up.”
Burgin has only been refereeing for five years, and her attitude towards the profession has evolved from seeing it as a coping mechanism to it being a viable career option.
And she has urged any youngster, boy or girl, to sign up to a basic referees course if they have even just a slight interest in the game.
She said: “At first I did it for a bit of extra money at the weekend. But I really started to enjoy it and now look where I am.
“Now I’m working my way up the pathway which I didn’t even know existed just a few years ago.
“Football is a fantastic sport to be involved in, so if anyone out there is interested, I’d tell them to get involved as soon as they can.
“I would also recommend anyone refereeing youth football to make the step to open age to gain the experience.
“It may seem daunting at first but it helps with personal development and gives you the opportunity to progress through the levels.”
If you'd like to follow in Melissa's footsteps, get in touch with your local referee development officer and book yourself on a basic referees course.
