He has had to juggle a career as a school teacher with his commitments as a referee in the A-League for the past decade, but Canberra official Ben Williams can now dedicate himself to the game he loves.
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Williams is one of three full-time professional referees appointed by Football Federation Australia in a ground-breaking move announced on Monday.
The 38-year-old, along with Chris Beath and Jarred Gillett, have signed two-year contracts.
Williams will step down from his position as a physical education teacher at Lyneham High School at the end of this semester. The A-League starts in October.
Having refereed in the A-League since it started in 2005 - the same year he was appointed to the FIFA International Referee Panel - Williams said the opportunity to become professional was a major step forward.
"I do love my teaching job, but it's been a difficult balance maintaining 100 per cent at school and 100 per cent on the pitch," Williams said.
"We can now focus fully on all of our preparation and tactical analysis and recovery from the matches.
"Hopefully that means we can stay in the game longer and get a few more decisions right when we're not fatigued from balancing work, life and family."
Establishing the three-member panel means the FFA is investing a further $300,000 in the referee program.
Williams said it was natural for fans to expect the standard of refereeing to increase with the addition of full-time officials.
"Every time we go out on to the park, we expect that out of ourselves as well, but at the same time, it won't eliminate errors and we're still human," he said.
"There will still be mistakes that are made, as players make mistakes.
"With this full-time job, we can focus on our mental, technical and physical preparation for matches and recovering from matches so we can minimise the chances of errors occurring."
Part-time referees will still be required to fill the remaining four spots on the A-League panel.
"It does take quite an amount of investment to do it properly, so we have to start somewhere," Williams said.
"We look at other leagues around the world.
"When the J-League went professional they had three referees as well and now they've grown to 10 referees and three assistant referees.
"That's the same kind of path we want to take."
