Davie Parsons

Term of office began: AGM 2010
Term of office ends: AGM 2026
Occupation: Business Support Manager
Joined BAFRA: 1985
Location: Glasgow
Email: president@bafra.info

Biog

Strange as it may seem, Davie first caught the football bug when he was working in Saudi Arabia in the early 1980’s. Almost all his work colleagues were from the USA and they would listen religiously to games on the American Forces Radio Network and watch video every Friday night.

After 3 years in the Saudi desert he returned home to the UK. It was late 1985 and Channels 4 were starting to pick up on the sport, various Football Magazines and First Down were appearing on newsagent’s shelves. He saw an advertisement, placed by BAFRA, looking for people interested in becoming Officials and sent in his application.

During the last 10 years he has been actively involved in training new Officials in Scotland and in October 2004 he put himself forward as a candidate for Director of Training.

Stuart Tabberer

Term of office began: 28th March 2021
Term of office ends: AGM 2025
Occupation: Air Traffic Controller
Joined BAFRA: January 2014
Location: Bristol
Email: finance@bafra.info

Biog

Stuart joined BAFRA in 2014 after completing university. Having played both Student and Summer Football at Bristol Barracuda and Bristol Apache for three years, Stuart needed a new American Football outlet. His love of officiating was sparked by helping out the Bristol Aztecs officiate a team scrimmage, especially when one of the coaches complimented him on his ability and rules knowledge.

Stuarts career has gone from strength to strength, being elected to the BAFRA Elite Panel for the last two years. He has been selected to officiate several Div 1 and 2 finals fixtures. Continuing his progression Stuart was selected to officiate the IFAF Womens European Tournament in Aug 2019 along with several GB European Championships qualifiers. Stuart was selected for the 2020 BUCS Bowl Game at Line Judge, however due to the pandemic the game never went ahead.

He has been part of the finance team since 2017 and has assisted in the restructuring of the finance team and processes.
Outside of BAFRA Stuart is a member of several choirs and plays Badminton regularly.

James Ford-Bannister

Term of office began: AGM 2020
Term of office ends: AGM 2026
Occupation:Entertainment Lighting Systems Designer
Joined BAFRA:2016
Location:Surrey
Email: training@bafra.info

Biog

A near life-long Baltimore Ravens fan, due to a childhood friend's family being from Baltimore before moving the UK, football has been a sport on his radar since he was a kid but not the only one - as sport has played a large role in his life. Having previously had various roles in sports officiating, mostly in Motorsport as a Timekeeper & Flag Marshal (including working Formula E London races as a Post-Chief), he wasn't aware that he was looking for something new. However, it was during a 2015 winter trip to his company's Madison, WI headquarters when he had the chance to see local College favourites & his NCAA team (Wisconsin Badgers) play a cold snowy game at Camp Randall against the Northwestern Wildcats. It was a tight and contentious game that left many on-field and replay calls up for debate at the local watering hole post-game. In a flight of fancy, he looked up officiating opportunities back home (having seen Farnham Knights play as a younger man) and endeavoured to apply upon returning to England.

After a quick and smooth training period, with mentor Alan Dobson, he took to the field for uniball in 2016 and has worked almost every weekend of every season since - covering all levels of the game including the Pro-Cloud Transatlantic Trophy, several Youth & Flag National Finals, and had been scheduled to work the BUCS Div 1 Final prior to COVID-19 cancelling the season. Despite being open to working any position, he prefer to work as a Back Judge, Field Judge or Referee. It was his extensive involvement in supporting Keith Wickham (Elite Coordinator) develop the Elite Development Programme's video review process, whilst simultaneously developing as a stand-in deep official for Elite games, and local white hat for many of the latest intake of rookie officials, the he was encouraged to develop his ideas and stand for Director of Training in 2020.

Outside of football, James previously worked as Deputy Stage Manger (show-caller) in the theatre industry before moving to the other side of the industry, where he now works as a Project Manager and System Designer for a global lighting systems company.

Peter Parsons

Term of office began: AGM 2016
Term of office ends: AGM 2026
Occupation: IT Consultant
Joined BAFRA: 2000
Location: Reading
Email: dwp1@bafra.info

Biog

Pete joined BAFRA in 2000 after playing and coaching for over a decade. He works all forms of contact football and has officiated close to 500 games. In his career he has been assigned to almost 20 domestic Championship and Bowl games at all levels, including 7 Britbowls, as well as many international games including the 2010 and 2013 European Championship Finals and the 2011 EFAF Cup Final.

Away from the field he currently serves on the BAFRA Exam Committee and the BAFRA Rules and Mechanics Committee, contributes to the IFAF rules and mechanics processes and to the rules processes for the smaller sided-formats in BAFA, mentors new officials and hosts local association meetings, and has previously served on the Selection Committee and as the Elite Programme director.