Sam Allison is currently the only black referee officiating in the top four divisions of English football.
The firefighter was recently promoted to the EFL by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).
The PGMOL the body responsible for refereeing appointments in the various English leagues.
Allison, therefore, becomes just the second black referee in English football's top four divisions in the last decade after Uriah Rennie, who retired in 2009.
Speaking to the BBC, he said he hopes to inspire more Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) officials to rise in the English game.
https://twitter.com/kingstonutd/status/1306327761334624256"I believe I'm a role model and I'm trying to help others who look like me and show them that there is a path for them too," he told BBC Sport.
Allison was the referee in charge when Port Vale defeated over Crawley in a League Two game last Saturday.
According to him, the dream is to support as many people to also climb up the ladder in refereeing.
"I don't even like saying a role model. I want to be a 'floor model' so that others can stand on me to get up,” he said.
"I'm not one of those guys that climb the ladder and pull it up behind them. I want that ladder to be there for everyone to climb as well and I can just support as many people as I can. If I do that, I've done what I wanted to achieve."
Allison will be refereeing League One and League Two games this season and he says he is just happy to keep improving.
