The modern game of Canadian football evolved from a hybridized form of English rugby, called rugby football, that was first played in central Canada. Historical accounts report games of rugby football being played in 1861 at the University of Toronto and 1868 between a team from Montreal and another from Quebec City. The first indication that arbitrators were used to ensure the games were played within the rules comes from an article in the 1883 constitution of Ontario Rugby Football Union. It stated that referees were to be in attendance at every game. The game moved to western Canada with the formation of the Manitoba Rugby League in 1888. Three teams, Winnipeg Football Club, St. John's College and the Royal School of Infantry competed in the league.By 1890 a game was played in the future province of Alberta. Meanwhile, members of the North West Mounted Police in Regina organized a team that travelled to Winnipeg toplayed two games against the the Winnipeg Football Club. In his autobiography "Forty years in Canada", Sam Steele identified the various sports that the members of the North West Mounted Police played in there rare leisure time. Although he doesn't specifically mention football, they would have, undoubtedly, played pick-up games of rugby football at the NWMP barracks in Regina to have enough confidence to compete with the Winnipeg team. It is likely that some non-participating members of the force may have acted as arbitrators for those pick up contests. One might expect that their rules knowledge was at best rudimentary. They were probably involved mainly to blow a whistle to initiate a play after a stoppage, to ensure a player stayed within the boundaries of the field, to determine whether or not a pass was lateral and not forward, and to see that the ball crossed the goal line for a 'try'. The team may have taken someone with them to be one of the officials for the games in Winnipeg.

According to Calder and Andrews in "Rider Pride", by the turn of the century young men in the town of Regina were also playing informal games of rugby football. There is also a reference on the CFL website to the formation of the Saskatchewan Rugby Football League in 1907. According to Currie in his book "100 years of Canadian Football", three young men who may have played in that league, Russ Smith, Jimmy Armstrong and John Bracken, were instrumental in establishing the Regina Rugby Football Club in 1910. The same year that the Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union was organized. The union was formed to create a rugby football league in which teams in Regina, Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Weyburn were expected to compete. However, only Regina and Moose Jaw were able to get teams together for that first season, and they engaged in a 4-game home-and-home schedule. The first game was played in Moose Jaw on October 1, 1910. Mr. "Seppi" du Moulin, one of the founders and an executive member of the Moose Jaw team, can be considered to be the referee for first organized rugby football game played in Saskatchewan. Mr. du Moulin had good credentials as he was a former player and official in Ontario Rugby Football Union, and was later installed into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. In 1911, John Bracken, was invited by the Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union to become a referee. This appointment was based on his knowledge of the game and his integrity (Currie, 1967, 100 years of Canadian Football).

By the time the Regina Rugby Football Club and the Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union (SRFU) were organized, the game of rugby football had been played for about 44 years in Ontario and Quebec. By 1910, it had evolved into a game with some similarities to the modern game of Canadian football. In 1884, the Canadian Rugby Football Union was formed as the governing body for football in Canada. It established a Code of Rules for Canadian Football that was a combination of the ORFU rules and "New English Rugby Union rules". It was reorganized as the Canadian Rugby Union in 1891. When the SRFU was organized in 1910, its executive chose to affiliate with the CRU, meaning that league games were to be played by CRU rules. The CRU's 1907 rule changes were significant because they standardize the aspects of the game and brought the game closer to our modern one. In that year, the 1-yard neutral scrimmage zone was established and it was also ruled that both offensive and defensive lines could not be in motion until after the ball was put into play. This was also the first year that teams were required to gain 10 yards in 3 downs. By the time the Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union was organized, substitutions at anytime during the game were permitted, but the replaced player could not re-enter the game.

Rugby football quickly caught the interest of the people of Saskatchewan and it was not long before there were intermediate, junior and high school teams, in addition to the senior teams. Indeed, Calder and Anderson report that, in 1910, the Regina and Moose Jaw Collegiate Institutes engaged in what may have been the first organized high school rugby football game played in Saskatchewan. It was played at Regina's Dominion Park before a crowd of 800 people, and the Regina team won the game by a score of 23-5.

Unlike John Bracken, most game officials in those early years were not appointed, so out of necessity, the majority of games were arbitrated by someone connected to the participating teams, possibly team managers for community teams or Physical Education teachers for school teams. As the pool of players knowledgeable about the game grew, some of those who became too old to play became involved as officials and even some who were still playing senior football, officiated at lower levels. This, certainly, was the case in the 1930s, 40s and early 50s in Regina, as archival information indicates that, of the 20 people who officiated more than two years during those decades 19 of them were former Roughriders. The twentieth was Paul Dojack, who played for and coached the Regina Junior Dales in the 1930's and began an illustrious 29-year officiating career in 1941. The former Roughriders were most likely carrying on a tradition initiated by their predecessors. One in that group of twenty, Dean Griffing, was the playing coach of the Roughriders in 1938, when he was assigned to the umpire's position in national junior championship between the Regina Dales and Montreal Westmounts at Montreal. Griffing continued to officiate high school games in Regina into the mid-1940s.

Associations organized, specifically, to train and distribute game assignments for football officials did not come into existence in Saskatchewan until the middle years of the 20th century. By this time, football officials in large urban centres such as Regina and Saskatoon were officiating games for several leagues. A football officials association with a formal constitution was established in Saskatoon in the early 1950s. Although, there was an ad hoc Regina Football Officials Association during the same period, it was not formalized with a constitution until 1970. Like Regina, Moose Jaw also had an ad hoc association prior to 1974 at which time it was also formalized with a constitution. In 1975, a group of rural and urban officials meet in Saskatoon and established the Saskatchewan Amateur Football Officials Association (SAFOA).

The role of SAFOA is two-fold, firstly, to provide football official with a voice in Football Saskatchewan and, secondly, to help rural and small urban centre officials to improve and maintain their officiating competence. The latter is attained through certification clinics, rules and mechanics update clinics and on-field evaluations. The Football Saskatchewan annual Senior Bowl game has become an important venue for SAFOA to reward both urban and rural official who maintaining a high competence level.

Football referees like all sports officials try to leave the lime-light to the athletes, but over the years, men, who have officiated football in Saskatchewan have been honoured by various institutions. For some this recognition has not been entirely based on their officiating prowess but on total contribution to the game. Three former Saskatchewan referees, Andy Currie, Paul Dojack and Dean Griffing, are inductees in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Two others, Don King and Howie Milne are in the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame. Football Canada and the Canadian Football Officials Association established the Tom Cheney Award in 1980. It is given to recognize officials throughout the country who have contributed to the advancement of officiating in Canada. Two Saskatchewan officials, Don Kent and Ron Walsh were recipients of that award. In 1982, Football Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Roughriders began a program to recognize Saskatchewanians who have contributed to the development of amateur football in the province. These awards are made ever year at a late season 'Rider game. Eleven football officials are among those who have been recognized. They are as follows;

Charlie Leibel, Regina (1982); Clarence Proctor, Biggar (1984); Bob Hilkewich, Birch Hills (1984); Don Kent, Regina (1984); Ron Walsh, Saskatoon (1984); Dick Bell, Moose Jaw (1988); John Senkiw, Foam Lake (1989); Ernie McClintock, Regina (1993); Morris Karakochuk Foam Lake (1998); Barry Gunther, Moose Jaw (1998); Ken Picot, Regina (2000), Allan Brown (2004), Al Waters (2009), Randy Warrick (2011), Al Mitchell (2012), Murray Taylor (2013), Frank White (2016).