Domestic career In May 2009, Massey-Ellis was appointed fourth official for the year's
FA Women's Cup final at
Derby County's
Pride Park Stadium, a game which saw two injury-time goals and
Arsenal defeat
Sunderland 2–1. In the
2009–10 men's season Massey was fourth official in five matches and assistant referee in 11 matches. Her first appointment as an assistant referee was on 29 August 2009, a 2–2 draw between
Hereford United and
Port Vale. On 11 February 2010, Massey-Ellis refereed the season's
FA Women's Premier League Cup final between
Leeds Carnegie and
Everton at
Rochdale's
Spotland Stadium. Massey was required to interpret two notable incidents; she disallowed a third first-half goal for Leeds for a foul on Everton's goalkeeper and disregarded Everton's late first-half appeal for a penalty kick. Leeds won the match 3–1, winning the cup for the first time since its inaugural 1991–92 season. Massey-Ellis turned professional in March 2010, joining the
Professional Game Match Officials List (PGMOL), who provide the officials for men's
Premier League matches, the highest level of professional football in England. Her first Premier League appointment was on 28 December 2010, as an assistant in
Blackpool's 2–0 away win at
Sunderland. During a game between
Cardiff City and
Middlesbrough in May 2011, Massey was knocked over by Cardiff player
Kevin McNaughton, although the incident was said, officially by the FA, to be an accident. In August 2011, Massey-Ellis was appointed to the
Select Group of match officials. Massey-Ellis was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the
2017 New Year Honours for services to football.
Sexism controversy After her second Premier League game, as an assistant in
Liverpool's 3–0 win at
Wolverhampton Wanderers on 22 January 2011, a
sexism controversy erupted over remarks made about Massey-Ellis by staff of the Premier League broadcaster Sky Sports, which led to commentator
Andy Gray and presenter
Richard Keys being sacked. Reporter
Andy Burton was suspended. Massey-Ellis was withdrawn by the PGMOL from her next appointment, a
League 2 game between
Crewe Alexandra and
Bradford City on 25 January, as they believed the added attention Massey might receive could detract from the match itself. The PGMOL also withdrew her for a second time, from a
Conference North game between
Corby Town and
Eastwood Town on 29 January, with Corby stating there had been huge demand for television access when it was announced Massey was to referee the game. Massey returned to the line on 5 February for a League 2 match between
Chesterfield and
Aldershot Town, and was then appointed to her third Premier League fixture on 12 February between
Blackpool and
Aston Villa, as an assistant to
Howard Webb. Massey-Ellis was the subject of censorship by Iranian state TV broadcasters when she was an assistant referee for a 12 April 2021 Premier League game between
Manchester United and
Tottenham. The
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reportedly cut away from the game more than 100 times in order to avoid showing her legs, showing outdoor footage of London instead. Massey-Ellis was wearing shorts, and women are required to cover their legs and hair in public by Iranian law. Activist group
My Stealthy Freedom publicly complained about the censorship. The channel allegedly had previously cancelled showing a 2019 match between
Augsburg and
Bayern Munich because a female referee would be officiating, and edited a broadcast of the 2018 FIFA World Cup draw announcement due to co-host
Maria Komandnaya.
International career Massey-Ellis's early international career has included involvement in the
2007 FIFA Women's World Cup by taking up the role of fourth official for
England's 4–0 qualification stage win over
Austria on 20 April 2006. In September 2007 Massey was assistant referee at England Women's 2–1 international friendly defeat by
Denmark Women. She was also an assistant referee for the qualification stage of
UEFA Women's Euro 2009. Her involvement in the qualification stage for the Women's World Cup increased for the
2011 edition of the competition, taking up the role of assistant referee for
Norway's 2–0 win over
Ukraine,
Sweden's 1–0 away victory over the
Czech Republic in Prague and
Belgium's 11–0 home win over
Azerbaijan. In June 2017, Massey-Ellis was appointed to be an assistant referee for the
UEFA Women's Euro 2017 in the
Netherlands. In May 2018 Massey-Ellis was appointed as an assistant in the
2018 UEFA Women's Champions League Final. On 3 December 2018, Massey-Ellis was appointed to be an assistant referee at the
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in
France. On 24 October 2019, Massey-Ellis was appointed to her first Men's International fixture in a 0–0 draw between
PSV Eindhoven and
LASK in the
UEFA Europa League. Massey-Ellis stepped down as an on-field FIFA official at the end of December 2024, however she remains a FIFA
Video Assistant Referee. ==Personal life==