• Female official Sophie Dennington recently shared her rigorous workout routine
  • Her training involved strength and conditioning, cardio and speed sessions 
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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 showed her week-long training via a viral video on TikTok

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.’

SOPHIE’S SEVEN-DAY ROUTINE 

Monday – 30 minute cycle, upper body session, stretching

Tuesday – Strength and conditioning, core

Wednesday – Rest day

Thursday – 5km run

Friday – Strength and conditioning

Saturday – Speed session

Sunday – Match day 

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