Sam Myatt likes football. It’s his job, his hobby and his passion.

He devotes some 50 hours a week, every week, during the season to the sport and, it’s fair to say, he enjoys every minute.

Myatt works full-time as a referee development officer for the Berks & Bucks FA but around Gloucestershire he is better known as the chairman of the Severn Valley Youth League and also as an up-and-coming referee and assistant referee.

Myatt is only 30 so has packed a lot into his football life already, a football life that saw him play for Hucclecote Youth in the old Gloucester Youth League when he was growing up.

His dad Paul coached the team for a while, but one-time Churchdown School pupil Myatt admits he was never the best footballer.

“I was a failed striker and a failed goalkeeper,” he laughed. “I stopped playing when I was 15 or 16. I was never the greatest player but refereeing was something I always found interesting.

“I remember when I was quite young my parents gave me a whistle and a red and yellow card. I used to really annoy the neighbours with that whistle!”

Myatt, who lived in Abbeymead – he still does – took up refereeing when he stopped playing and he’s never looked back.

“It allowed me to stay involved,” he said.

It certainly has because these days he is a Level 4 referee, which means he takes charge of games in the Hellenic League.

He is also an assistant referee in the Southern League so is progressing well, but he wants to go higher.

“This is my second season at Level 4, I’m really enjoying the challenge,” he continued. “I’d be stupid not to push myself and see how far I can go.”

There was a crowd of 800 when he officiated at Halesowen Town earlier this season, so how does he deal with the inevitable criticism that he gets during games?

“I block it out,” he said quite matter-of-factly. “You can’t listen to the noise. You’ve got so many decisions to make all the time, you can’t get distracted. If you did, the players would soon know.”

If he’s got a free Saturday, he will happily referee in the Severn Valley Youth League or go along and support one of the younger officials. 

He was appointed referees’ appointments secretary for the Gloucester Youth League in his early 20s, a position he retained when the league merged with the Stroud Youth League in 2016 to form the Severn Valley Youth League.

He took over as chairman of the new league from Ken Fagan just before Christmas in 2017, a role he describes as a “privilege”.

“We’re supporting the next generation,” he said. “My priority is to help the management committee achieve their individual roles.

“We’ve got a strong group of volunteers. They do the hard work and I take the glory as chairman!”

And they are certainly doing something right because the league, which caters for teams from under-7s through to under-16s, has some 3,990 players registered.

“By the end of the season we’re hoping to have 4,000 players registered,” said Myatt. “That would be the first time we’ve reached that number.”