'I would go home and cry but have not let anything stop me'
When Sophie Dennington told a school referee "I could be a better ref than you", she would not have expected to have started a chain of events that would take her to the FA Cup final at Wembley.
The 23-year-old will serve as an assistant referee on Sunday when Manchester United face Tottenham at a sold-out final.
Her path to Wembley began when the referee told her PE teacher at the Grange School in Aylesbury that Dennington, then 15, would make a good official and should be encouraged on her journey. The school paid for her training course, with Dennington paying them back by officiating boys' matches after classes.
She is now a national refereeing manager with the Football Association, running the line in Women's Super League and Champions League matches – and now the FA Cup final.
Dennington's story spread this week after a proud Instagram post from her mum Shelly went viral.
She is dyslexic, and at the age of 13 was told she had the reading and spelling of a seven-year-old.
"I didn't get diagnosed until year eight," she said. "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.
"My Spanish teacher sat me down, and said: 'I have dyslexia, and I'm a teacher.' She was so relatable.
"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."
She says she was initially "a little bit embarrassed" by her mum's post on social media.
"My mum didn't tell me she was going to post it, so when my phone blew up I wondered what was going on," Dennington said.
"When I started to read the comments, I realised how people were relating to it.
"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 would go home and cry'
This will not be Dennington’s first experience of the FA Cup final, having been the reserve assistant last year.
It means she is ready for the pressures of officiating at Wembley and of working with the video assistant referee system, which is not used in the WSL but was in play for last year’s final and will be again this Sunday.
Dennington hopes she will be able to inspire other neurodivergent people when she forms part of an all-female on-pitch officiating team at the cup final, alongside referee Abi Byrne and fellow assistant Nicoleta Bria, with Kirsty Dowle the fourth official.
She certainly hopes to be the role model she did not have as a 13-year-old left feeling bereft by her diagnosis, and got emotional when asked what message she would send to her childhood self.
"Don't be as hard on yourself," she said. "I would go home and cry, not understanding why I'm not like anybody else.
"I hope they just see a 23-year-old running the line at Wembley who has not let anything stop her.
“I think for a female game to be sold out, and an all-female refereeing team, hopefully they can relate to that, and follow their passion."
