​​​​​​​Football South Australia announces restructuring of Referee Department

Football SA would like to announce the restructuring of the refereeing department for the 2022 season.

We would like to thank the recently departed Andrew Murray for his tireless work as the State Referee Development Manager for the past few years and wish him all the best moving forward.

It is an exciting time for refereeing in South Australia and we would like to announce the appointing of Angus MacDonald as the new Referee Development Manager. Angus has been involved with Football SA as a referee, coach, and player over the last 6 years. Continuing to build a strong culture amongst match officials, education, along with retention and recruitment will be key areas of focus.

We would like to also congratulate Jackie Pickering as she moves into her new full-time role as the Referee Operations Coordinator where she will provide administrative and operational support to the referee department. She has been the Referee Administration Officer for the 2021 season.

Football SA would also like to welcome Michelle Smith onboard as the Senior Referee Development Consultant. Michelle brings 25 years of football refereeing experience to the role which includes international appointments as a FIFA assistant referee and 15 years of involvement at the national level as a referee coach and assessor.

Michelle will also be the chair of the newly formed referee coaching advisory group which has been endorsed by both Football SA and the State Referee Committee. This committee will consist of:

  • Michelle Smith – Chair
  • Matthew Cream – Senior Referee Coaching
  • Daniel Elder – Lead Academy Coach
  • Angus MacDonald – Community Development
  • Daniel Bryant – Video & Data Analyst

Football South Australia CEO, Michael Carter said:

“Refereeing in South Australia continues to be a major focus of Football SA. The structure outlined will provide added support to a key strategic area of the business as we strive to increase the depth and coverage of match officials for the game. There has been a great deal of progress in recent times and we are committed to building on the momentum created.