Why significant Pompey history will be made when Blues take the field against Burton Albion tonight

That’s because referee Rebecca Welch is set to become the first female match official to take charge of a competitive Blues game.

She has been chosen to officiate the fixture at the Pirelli Stadium in what is the 38-year-old’s second full season on the National Group Referees List.

The Tyne and Wear-born former NHS administrator will be assisted by Richard Woodward and Lee Freeman for Pompey’s match against the Brewers, with Robert Lewis acting as fourth official.

The encounter will be her fifth of the 2022-23 season, having last officiated on September 3, when Cheltenham drew 2-2 at Port Vale in League One.

It also represents Welch’s 22nd game in charge since becoming the first female to be appointed as an EFL match official, when Harrogate lost 2-0 at home to Vale in League Two on April 5, 2021.

In that time she has shown 60 yellow cards and one red, at an average of 2.6 cautions per game.

Welch has been involved in refereeing since 2010 and has officiated in the Women’s Super League, taking charge of both the 2017 and 2020 Women’s FA Cup finals.

She was chosen to take charge of National League games during the 2018-19 season and was promoted to Uefa’s Elite Women’s list in 2020.

This summer Welch officiated at the Women’s European Championships, which was won by England – six months after becoming the first female to officiate a third-round men's FA Cup match.

The County Durham native isn’t the first women to be part of the match-day officials for a Pompey game, though.

That honour, if records are to be correct, fell to assistant referee Sian Massey-Ellis, when the Blues lost 4-0 to Chelsea in the third round of the FA Cup in January 2012.

Since then, Lisa Rashid, Natalie Aspinall and Helen Edwards have all acted as assistants to the match official during Pompey matches, with the latter most recently being involved in the Blues’ 1-0 over Port Vale on August 28.