Sian Louise Massey-Ellis

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(née Massey; born 5 October 1985) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

match official who officiates generally in the role of assistant referee in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

and

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. She has also been appointed to matches in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

, FIFA Women's World Cup qualification rounds, the FIFA Women's World Cup and the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. Massey-Ellis was appointed to the

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

list of women assistant referees in 2009 and turned professional in 2010. She is based in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

Career

Domestic career

In May 2009, Massey-Ellis was appointed fourth official for the year's

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

final at

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

Pride Park Stadium Pride Park Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Derby, England, that is the home ground of English Football League club Derby County. With a capacity of 33,597, it is the 16th-largest football ground in England and the 20th-largest stad ...

, a game which saw two injury-time goals and Arsenal defeat Sunderland 2–1. In the 2009–10 men's season Massey was fourth official in five matches and assistant referee in 11 matches. Her first appointment as an assistant referee was on 29 August 2009, a 2–2 draw between

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

and

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

. On 11 February 2010, Massey-Ellis refereed the season's

FA Women's Premier League Cup The Women's National League Cup is an annual English football cup competition, founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association (WFA). It was renamed the FA Women's Premier League Cup from 1994 to 2018. The first edition of the Cup includ ...

final between

Leeds Carnegie Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University. These include: Current * Leeds Carnegie Handball Club Changed name * Leeds Carnegie ...

and Everton at

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Spotland Stadium Spotland Stadium, known as the Crown Oil Arena for sponsorship reasons, in the Spotland area of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, is home to Rochdale A.F.C. and Rochdale Hornets R.F.L.C. and has a capacity of 10,249. History Spotland was original ...

. Massey was required to interpret two notable incidents; she disallowed a third first-half goal for Leeds for a foul on Everton's goalkeeper and disregarded Everton's late first-half appeal for a penalty kick. Leeds won the match 3–1, winning the cup for the first time since its inaugural 1991–92 season. Massey-Ellis turned professional in March 2010, joining the

Professional Game Match Officials Board {{Use dmy dates, date=January 201.He is a Everton fan. (PGMOL) is the body responsible for match officials in English professional football. Formerly known as the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOB), it was formed when English refere ...

(PGMOB), who provide the officials for men's

matches, the highest level of professional football in England. Her first Premier League appointment was on 28 December 2010, as an assistant in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

's 2–0 away win at Sunderland. During a game between Cardiff City and

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

in May 2011, Massey was knocked over by Cardiff player

Kevin McNaughton Kevin Paul McNaughton (born 28 August 1982) is a Scottish professional football player and coach. A versatile player able to play anywhere in defence, McNaughton was also used in a defensive midfield role. He began his career in the Scottish P ...

, although the incident was said, officially by the FA, to be an accident. In August 2011, Massey-Ellis was appointed to the Select Group of match officials. Massey-Ellis was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to football.

Sexism controversy

After her second Premier League game, as an assistant in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

's 3–0 win at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

on 22 January 2011, a

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...

controversy erupted over remarks made about Massey-Ellis by staff of the Premier League broadcaster Sky Sports, which led to commentator Andy Gray and presenter

Richard Keys Richard Keys (born 23 April 1957) is an English sports presenter who has worked for BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky, Talksport, Al Jazeera, Fox Sports, ESPN Star Sports , BeIN Sports; and has presented many top-level football matches. Career His ca ...

being sacked. Reporter Andy Burton was suspended. Massey-Ellis was withdrawn by the PGMOB from her next appointment, a League 2 game between

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

and

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

on 25 January, as they believed the added attention Massey might receive could detract from the match itself. The PGMOB also withdrew her for a second time, from a

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

game between

Corby Town Corby Town Football Club is a football club based in Corby, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Steel Park. History The club was established in 1948, taking over from Stewarts & Lloyds as the main team ...

and

Eastwood Town Eastwood Town Football Club was an English football club based in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. The club last participated in the Northern Premier League Division One South, the eighth tier of English football. A new club, Eastwood C.F.C., was f ...

on 29 January, with Corby stating there had been huge demand for television access when it was announced Massey was to referee the game. Massey returned to the line on 5 February for a League 2 match between

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

and

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

, and was then appointed to her third Premier League fixture on 12 February between

and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

, as an assistant to

Howard Webb Howard Melton Webb MBE (born 14 July 1971) is an English former professional football referee who officiated primarily in the Premier League from 2003 to 2014, as well as for FIFA as a FIFA international referee from 2005 to 2014. Webb is co ...

. Massey-Ellis was the subject of censorship by Iranian state TV broadcasters when she was an assistant referee for a 12 April 2021 Premier League game between

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

. The

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB; fa, صدا و سيمای جمهوری اسلامی ايران, ''Sedā va Sīmā-ye Jomhūri-ye Eslāmi-ye Īrān'', , formerly called National Iranian Radio and Television until the Iranian Rev ...

reportedly cut away from the game more than 100 times in order to avoid showing her legs, showing outdoor footage of London instead. Massey-Ellis was wearing shorts, and women are required to cover their legs and hair in public by Iranian law. Activist group

My Stealthy Freedom My Stealthy Freedom is an online movement that was started in 2014 by Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-born journalist and activist based in the United Kingdom and the United States. This movement started as a Facebook page, called ''My Stealthy Freed ...

publicly complained about the censorship. The channel allegedly had previously cancelled showing a 2019 match between

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

and Bayern Munich because a female referee would be officiating, and edited a broadcast of the 2018 FIFA World Cup draw announcement due to co-host Maria Komandnaya.

International career

Massey-Ellis's early international career has included involvement in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup by taking up the role of fourth official for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

's 4–0 qualification stage win over

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

on 20 April 2006. In September 2007 Massey was assistant referee at England Women's 2–1 international friendly defeat by Denmark Women. She was also an assistant referee for the qualification stage of

UEFA Women's Euro 2009 The 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, or just Women's Euro 2009, was played in Finland between 23 August and 10 September 2009. The host was appointed on 11 July 2006, in a UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Berlin and the Finnish proposal won over ...

. Her involvement in the qualification stage for the Women's World Cup increased for the 2011 edition of the competition, taking up the role of assistant referee for

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

's 2–0 win over

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

's 1–0 away victory over the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

in Prague and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

's 11–0 home win over

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

. In June 2017, Massey-Ellis was appointed to be an assistant referee for the

UEFA Women's Euro 2017 The 2017 UEFA European Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2017, was the 12th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the women's national tea ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In May 2018 Massey-Ellis was appointed as an assistant in the 2018 UEFA Women's Champions League Final. On 3 December 2018, Massey-Ellis was appointed to be an assistant referee at the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football championship contested by 24 women's national teams representing member associations of FIFA. It ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. On 24 October 2019, Massey-Ellis was appointed to her first Men's International fixture in a 0–0 draw between

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, w ...

and

LASK Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as Linzer ASK () or simply LASK, is an Austrian professional Football team, football club, from the Upper Austria, Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and pl ...

in the

Personal life

She is married to Robert Ellis, who is also a football referee.

References