Dorset FA were pleased to see equality in football recognised through the New Year’s Honours awards, including Dorset resident Janie Frampton!

Congratulations to Janie for the award of her OBE following her long standing service to equality in the game both locally and nationally. 

Janie was totally committed to football at a young age. Having started playing at 15 years of age, she quickly fell in love with the game. As well as playing, she qualified as a referee in December 1991 having taken the course at Shillington Cricket club, 2 hours a session over 8 sessions. Very quickly she moved up the promotion pathway and became the second women to operate on the men’s professional leagues.

Janie became the first ‘County Coaching Representative for Women’, which was a volunteer role appointed by the FA. During this period she was instrumental in setting up the first women’s county league with 12 teams - ground-breaking for its time and fed into regional football.

As part of the role of ‘County Coaching Representative for Women’, Janie took what was then the preliminary coaching badge and later updated to UEFA level 2. She ran girls mini soccer sessions around the county to encourage more girls to play football and went on to become the assistant coach for the women’s county team.

From 1996 to 2001, Janie sat on the Dorset FA Council representing East Dorset Leagues, and enjoyed the experience of trying to make a difference to local football. In 2001, Janie was appointed as one of 10 FA Regional Referee Managers, eventually strategically managing 21 counties and becoming National Manager for Education and Training of Referees until 2012. 

In 2003, Janie became the second woman to referee the Women’s FA Cup final, which was played at Bramall Lane. In 2005, until 2015, Janie became a FIFA Referee Instructor working across many FIFA World Cups as a Technical Instructor, Observer and Match Delegate. 

Janie now enjoys running her own consultancy, Team You Development, where she designs and delivers bespoke education programmes: Future Proofing a Growth Mindset, including leadership and E.D.& I., strategic and structural guidance and support across a range of organisations within sport and industry. 

It's great to see a local grassroots football volunteer recognised nationally - congratulations again to Janie!