Ex players to become referees?

This seems like a good idea to me, but the timescales need to be quicker to get players who have retired to getting them into the professional leagues as referees. I was only talking about this issue at the last home match to the bloke who sits behind me as the ref against Northampton was shocking

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/mar/21/fa-pfa-plan-fast-track-players-referees