- Female official Sophie Dennington recently shared her rigorous workout routine
- Her training involved strength and conditioning, cardio and speed sessions
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Why Eddie Howe is the ‘greatest coach of his generation’
A female referee has offered fans a glimpse of the rigorous workout routine which gets her in shape to officiate matches.
Taking to social media, Sophie Dennington – who is a national refereeing manager with the Football Association – shared a week-long insight into her fitness regime.
Dennington had been on duty for the Women’s FA Cup quarter-final clash between Liverpool and Arsenal before taking to the gym and the pitch to start her recovery.
In the viral video, starting from Monday, Dennington showed a clip of herself in the gym doing a 30 minute bike session, an upper body circuit and some stretching.
Dennington, 24, then moved on to strength and conditioning on the Tuesday, while incorporating a core workout at the end of her routine.
On the Wednesday, the official enjoyed a ‘rest day’ but still managed to get her ‘steps in’ midweek. She shared a clip of herself on a walk to prove the statement.
Sophie Dennington shared the rigorous workout routine that she does ahead of matchday
Dennington is a national refereeing manager with the FA and regularly features in the WSL
On Thursday, Dennington opted for a 5km run to get back into the swing of things and shared a selfie video as she jogged along a path.
For the final gym session of the week, she returned to strength and conditioning – as she showcased her deadlift technique while in the gym.
She was also spotted doing calf raises using a gym machine as she worked on her lower body ahead of game day.
On the Saturday, Dennington did a ‘speed session’ which involved jockeying along a pitch – similarly to how she would do so on the touchline as a linesman.
On Sunday, she was part of an officiating team that oversaw Birmingham and Southampton’s WSL clash.
The FA qualified official went viral last year after her mother shared a proud Instagram post relating to her struggles with dyslexia before becoming an official.
Reflecting on it, in an interview with the BBC, she said: ‘My mum didn’t tell me she was going to post it, so when my phone blew up I wondered what was going on.
‘When I started to read the comments, I realised how people were relating to it.
At the end of the week, Dennington goes through a ‘speed session’ to prepare for her matches
‘It has been amazing. I didn’t want to do any media, but I did want to say: ‘Yes I did have a reading age of a seven-year-old at 13, but now I have a degree.’
‘There were people at school who told me not to go for sixth form, but I wrote a 10,000-word dissertation – who are you to tell me what to do?
‘I didn’t get diagnosed until year eight. In year five I used to cry because I used to get the words the wrong way around. I had to go to year three to do spellings. One day they had to bring my mum in because I was so distraught.
‘Nothing was really done, then I changed school into year eight and they did some tests. When I got diagnosed, my family realised I wasn’t just lazy. I think they felt a bit guilty in not being able to support me in the correct way.’
