Bridgnorth's Leonie Pryor making a mark in the middle of the the park

Pryor, from Burwarton, admits she was ‘quite late’ to rugby and after an injury forced her to step away from playing, she turned to officiating.

What was only originally intended to be a hobby to keep her involved in the sport has now turned into a full-time role with the RFU and the chance to be involved in elite-level fixtures – having served as an assistant referee for the rugby sevens at the Commonwealth Games in the summer.

“I was quite late to rugby. I started playing in my early 30s, got smashed about a few times, and then decided to get into refereeing after a knee operation – thanks to an injury on the rugby pitch,” explained Pryor.

“When I did the course in 2015, I only thought I’d go and do a few kids games at the local club.

“I didn’t have any ambitions to do anything else. The chairman of the North Midlands society, though, just said ‘why wouldn’t you do senior rugby?’

“I kind of shrugged my shoulders and went with the flow, and it’s gone on from there.

“I’ve had four Women’s Premiership Cup games which I’ve been referee for, and I’ve been the fourth official for the England/Ireland women’s fixture in the Six Nations.

“Last year, I was assistant referee at the Red Bull Sevens at St George’s Park, which was under Covid restrictions and a warm-up event for the Olympics.

“I’ve been assistant refereeing at men’s National League 2. I love being part of the team of match officials for these fixtures, it’s a fantastic opportunity to work with and learn from referees operating at higher levels of the sport.”

Pryor’s rise from grassroots rugby to refereeing professional fixtures has seen her entrusted with the development of young match officials.

The RFU are aiming to boost participation in women’s rugby and develop more referees, with various courses available across the country.

“I run the Young Match Official programme at the North Midlands society,” said Pryor. “It’s open to anyone. There’s a young girl I’ve coached through that programme who never played rugby.

“She’d been told by a boy at school that ‘girls can’t referee’, and now she referees senior men’s games. So, that’s pretty cool. She’s definitely proved him wrong.

“We coach and mentor those youngsters coming through, and I also work for the RFU as a Match Official Developer.

“I started that in January of this year. So doing a ref’s course on a whim to stay in the game has led to a profession, being involved in coaching and mentoring referees at all levels of the community game .”

Pryor calls herself the ‘wee referee’ and is a well-respected figure among fellow officials and players alike.

The five foot (not your stereotypical referee) 40-year-old even spent her last birthday refereeing a Wolverhampton first-team match and loves the camaraderie that comes with it.

“That’s why I give up a lot of my free time to go and do it,” said Pryor.

“There was a game last season at Ludlow where they were playing Hereford, so it could have been quite a clash.

“Ludlow won 24-0 and I had both teams praising me. I went into the clubhouse afterwards and had three old boys from Hereford telling me what a great game I’d had and how much they enjoyed it.

“That’s just the icing on the cake if you can get praise from the losing team.

“I’ve had a good laugh and made some amazing friends along the way had great experiences both and off the pitch, despite getting into it quite late.

“I have to thank Neil Reid-Warrilow, who is also from Shropshire, for his help. He has taken me under his wing and coached me for the last few years, I wouldn’t be where I am without his guidance and encouragement.”

On others potentially following in her footsteps, she added: “There’ll be massive opportunities coming down the line and the growth of the women’s game is far exceeding any other part of the game. Especially now the RFU have won the bid to host World Cup 2025

“It’s grown exponentially, really, and it’s amazing to see what getting into refereeing does for young women’s personal growth and development, as it has done for me.”