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
Wendy Toms by at least four yards and there were numerous other bad decisions in the game. My message is don't be politically correct and promote people just for the sake of it." However, the president of the Referees' Association at the time, Peter Willis, replied: "She's a very good official...I think the situation is very sad. As a manager of a football club, Strachan is responsible for his players and he is entitled to his opinion on the performance of the officials, but to talk about the sex of the official is irrelevant." Toms' highest domestic honour was being appointed as