Can we have the lady referee? Tribute to WA great Marilyn Learmont

Football West would like to pass on its condolences to the family and friends of WA refereeing great Marilyn Learmont, who has died aged 78.

Her death was announced today by Football West Life Member Richard Kreider and the Football Hall of Fame WA.

Marilyn made history in 1992 when she became the first female to officiate a National Soccer League fixture, running the line in the West Adelaide-Brisbane United game.

In the same year, she was an official at the ‘B’ international between the Young Socceroos and Brazil at Fremantle Oval*; a year later, she was on the line when the WA State Team played against Irish champions Shelbourne at the WACA Ground.

In 2023, Marilyn spoke with the State Library of WA’s Game Changers podcast as part of a series leading up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup. In it, she shared the story of how helping her husband Alex with his refereeing led to her involvement.

“My husband was studying because he’d failed his Class 3 the first time, so I was helping him. I said, ‘Oh, this is easy’ and he said, ‘If it’s so easy, you go and do it!’ So I got the book out and the next time the exams were on, I went and I passed it first time!”

Marilyn began refereeing local school games, then Country Week and national school championships. She soon entered the ranks of the Soccer Federation of Western Australia, officiating men’s games in the state’s top division.

Her progress was quick, but not without its challenges.

She said: “When I first started, I was told to go home and do my dishes, go and do my knitting. That’s where I belong, behind the sink. And I’m thinking, ‘Oh, hello. I took the time to go and learn the Laws. I’m now trying to put them across’.

“It didn’t last very long. Once they realised, hang on, this woman knows what she’s doing, it sort of ceased. And then I’d get asked to do the games and when I did Country Week, they’d all come out from Kalgoorlie and Albany and say, ‘Oh, can we have the lady referee?’.

“It’s a confidence thing, really, to believe in yourself. I used to say to myself, if I heard something from the sideline, ‘Well, I’m getting paid to do this, you have to pay to come in to abuse me’.”

Marilyn said she put that self-belief to good use in a game between two local Italian sides.

“That was quite funny. They were swearing at each other, so I just called, ‘Stop the game’ and called the two captains aside. I just said to them, ‘I don’t know if you realise, but I’m from Italian background and I know exactly what you are saying, so would you please tell your players to cut it out and let’s get on with the game’. And nobody said another word.

“I wasn’t telling a lie, but it was just a little bit of untruth, really. I didn’t know what they were saying. But I gathered it was in swear words. That’s another thing I think comes with confidence or bluffing people. I don’t know what it is.”

Football West CEO Jamie Harnwell said: “It is very sad to hear of Marilyn’s passing. Her contribution to football in WA will never be forgotten.

“While there are still real challenges for female referees today, it is fair to say that things are much better than when Marilyn was starting out. There was undoubtedly a “male sport” mentality thing then, yet she was able to show what she could do through a combination of ability, inner steel, common sense and good humour. She was one of our best.

“And coming so soon after the passing of former Women’s State Team Manager Barbara Gibson, WA football has lost two giants of the female game.”

• Listen to Marilyn Learmont’s 2023 interview with Game Changers HERE

* The Young Socceroos side that night featured future Australia international stars Kevin Muscat and Craig Moore, while in goal for Brazil was Dida, who would go on to help his country lift the FIFA World Cup in 2002 as well as winning two UEFA Champions League titles with AC Milan