FORMER Wanderers midfielder Liam Trotter has been placed on a fast-track course to become a professional referee.
The 37-year-old, who amassed more than 400 career appearances with the likes of Bolton, Ipswich Town, Millwall and Bromley, successfully applied to the course, run by the PGMO (formerly PGMOL) and the PFA.
Trotter and nine other former players are in their first year of the course, with the hope they could be officiating by 2028.
Traditionally, a referee must be promoted from Level Nine (trainee) to Level One, which would see them able to take change of an EFL or Premier League game.
There has been a call for more ex-players to be considered as referees but this is the first time the process has been condensed, which has helped the course attract plenty of attention from players like Trotter.
“It’s a three-year course with 10 former players and will hopefully climb us up the ladder as quickly as possible,” he said on BBC Radio Manchester.”
Trotter played for three full seasons at Bolton, initially joining on loan from Millwall. He played 73 games, including the loan spell, and is perhaps best remembered for a spectacular goal at Sheffield Wednesday, which was eventually voted the club’s best of 2013/14.
Another member of the Wanderers alumni, former manager Keith Hill, also helped out with the referee’s training by attending a recent session and barracking some of their decision making from the sidelines, as to replicate the sort of pressures they could feel during a game.
Trotter added: “It gave us an insight into what it could be like after a game where you have made a couple of decisions where the manager is unhappy with you and he’s coming in with passion, maybe a little bit of aggression, how to deal with all that.
“It was a really good experience. Good fun.”
Famously, another ex-Bolton star, Tony Philliskirk, went through the traditional route to becoming a referee, signing up to a call for professionals to take an interest in officiating while he was still playing.
At the time, the average time taken to become fully qualified was 16 years, although that has since been reduced.
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