Former Town midfielder Liam Trotter is training to become a referee through the PFA and PGMOL’s Player to Match Official Programme.
Ipswich-born Trotter, 36, came through the Town academy and was a member of the U18s side which won the FA Youth Cup in 2005.
He went on to make 18 senior starts and eight sub appearances for the Blues, scoring two goals, before moving on to Millwall, where he had previously been on loan, in 2010.
Trotter called time on a career which had taken him to clubs across the EFL as well as Orange County in the US, following spells in the National League with Bromley and Chelmsford in the summer of 2023.
The Player to Match Official Programme is a new venture offering training, education and development to former players interested in taking up refereeing with the PGMOL providing expert coaching. Trotter is among the first to take up the opportunity.
"It’s really, really interesting. I was always aware that refereeing football is a completely different game,” he said.
"So may different decisions to be made, so many different challenges and I think I can definitely see that in the future there are going to be things that I will find difficult but it’s also having that self-belief and confidence that I can get better and improve.”