FOUR Inverclyde Academy pupils are playing their cards right as they take their first steps towards becoming professional football referees.

Local schoolboys Ryan Robinson, Kyle Barclay, Andrew Leith and Sean Hepburn have been taking part in a refereeing course as part of their studies, which aims to give them a grounding in officiating the sport.

The group recently passed an exam on the laws of the game and are hoping to be fully qualified as match officials for the Renfrewshire association by the end of the school year.

PE teacher Andrew Campbell, who has been delivering the course, is a whistler and told the Tele he was proud of the boys' efforts.

He said: "I came to Inverclyde Academy two years ago and I'm a qualified referee myself.

"We thought it would be a great idea to introduce the SFA referee course as part of the senior pathway in the school.

"It'll allow them to go and referee matches almost like a part-time job after they leave school.

"It gives them a direct link to employment and also all the skills that go with being a matchday referee.

"It's the first time this course has run in Inverclyde Academy and I believe the first time it's been run in the local authority area."

Andrew hopes the boys will kick on with their refereeing studies and says he would love to see them keep coming back to the school to referee games in future.

He added: "They've just submitted their last two match reports to me, which means now I can say to the SFA that these guys are ready for registration after they've sat their final fitness test.

"Their application level has been first class all year and hopefully this is the start of this course continuing long-term.

"When these guys go on to do apprenticeships or further study, hopefully on a Saturday and Sunday they can pick some matches up and get some match fees to help them through that.

"By the end of the year they'll all be qualified referees for Renfrewshire Association and if they want to go up to the SPFL they can also keep working within the association."

Kyle, 17, said that pursuing a qualification in refereeing would not have occurred to him if the school hadn't offered the course.

He said: "I've found it really interesting and being able to make a bit of money off of it in the future is also great.

"It's something I definitely wouldn't have thought of and well worth it if you look at the benefits you can get from passing the course."