BILL Eaton kicks off his light-hearted look into life as a referee in his column ‘Tales from the Dark Sside’.

This week, he meets gets the profilesup-and-coming official Callum Fenton and gets histheir experiences of being at the heart of the action.

MY refereeing career began when I stopped playing football.

I decided to become a referee because I was always the player that would be in the referee’s ear all game and I remember thinking to myself, how hard can it be?', so I gave it a shot.

I passed my basic referees course in October 2012 and decided to referee in the Bolton and Bury District Junior Football League.

I started by just doing nine-a-side games to gain some experience and instantly you feel pressure that you have to be at your best for the whole game.

At the end of my first season I found out that I had been named picked was an assistant referee for one of the cup finals and from the moment you turn up until the moment you get your trophy and leave, you get a strong feeling of pride to be part of a fantastic team of referee’s.

The next season I progressed on to refereeing 11eleven-a-side matches and you notice the differences between nine-a-side and 11-a-side.

The main one is the offside rule, which I personally find the hardest thing to get right when you are without assistant referees.

After completing my second season in refereeing I realised how much I enjoy it.

During my time refereeing, I have had games when you are on your way home and you think to yourself that you’ve had a bad game. T and to be honest, it is something that we all do and you just have to blank out the past soand the next time you step on to the pitch field of play your head is clear of any previous games and you perform to your best and enjoy it.

Alongside refereeing, on a Saturday morning I have been a club assistant for Ladybridge FC and Stoneclough FC in the West Lancashire League, which has given me a great opportunity to improve myself as an assistant referee. It has also shown me what I am to expect when I progress onto refereeing open age football and hopefully in the West Lancashire League.

As I passionately enjoy officiating the game, my ambition is to see how far I can progress with the dream of refereeing in the Premier League.