A YOUNG referee from Windermere has refereed the game between England Under 16’s and Port Vale Under 16’s at Loughborough University.

Charlie Mulhall, who started refereeing in 2015, has been selected to be part of the Football Association’s Centre for Refereeing Excellence (CORE) programme.

He said: “To be given the opportunity to referee an international side was one of the biggest appointments I have received as a referee. Not only was it a prestigious appointment I also saw this as an opportunity to learn and gain an insight into the national set-up.

"The game itself was a completely different challenge to what I am used to, the questions and demands that the players asked of me were much different, the standard of the players was noticeably different and it was clear to see that there are some future talents within the England youth setup."

Mulhall was quick to praise the amount of support he has received from Westmorland FA referee development officer Mark Backhouse, along with former Westmorland FA chief executive Peter Ducksbury and Premier League referee Anthony Taylor.

The young referee has already officiated at games at Manchester United’s training complex in Carrington and at the Paris World Games last summer.