Wendy Toms which was then unique for a female. She was the first woman to be included on the list of Football League assistant referees when she was chosen for the 1994-95 season, and became a referee in the Football Conference two seasons later, creating another precedent when she took charge of the game between Kidderminster and Nuneaton Borough her first Conference match as referee. Almost a year after that, she operated as an assistant referee in the Premier League, again, the first female ever to do so. Two years after her debut in that league, and having 'run the line' for
Carl Toms the next major course of his life by introducing Toms to Oliver Messel with whom he would eventually apprentice with from 1952 to 1957. Toms' first job under Messel was to make models for a penthouse suite at the Dorchester Hotel. At the same time Messel was working on a new ballet for the Royal Opera House commissioned to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and three successive operas at Glyndebourne Festival, all of which Toms assisted on. Messel had a strong interest and passion for French culture which highly influenced his work. As a result, Toms' work became