Howard Webb
Full name | Howard Melton Webb | ||
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Rotherham, England | 14 July 1971||
Other occupation |
Police Officer with South Yorkshire Police | ||
Domestic | |||
Years | League | Role | |
1993–1995 |
Northern Counties East | Assistant referee | |
1995–1998 | Northern Counties East | Referee | |
1996–1998 |
Football League | Assistant referee | |
1998–2000 | Premier League | Assistant referee | |
1998–2000 |
Football Conference | Referee | |
2000–2003 | Football League | Referee | |
2003–2014 | Premier League | Referee | |
International | |||
Years | League | Role | |
2005–2014 | FIFA listed | Referee |
Howard Melton Webb MBE (born 14 July 1971)[1] is an English former professional football referee who officiated primarily in the Premier League from 2003 to 2014, as well as for FIFA as a FIFA international referee from 2005 to 2014.
Webb is counted amongst the all-time top referees by the
Throughout his professional career, Webb drew praise for his authoritative and respected approach to refereeing from football bodies, pundits, colleagues, players and managers.
Early life
Webb was born to Sylvia and Billy Webb and grew up in Rotherham, Yorkshire. His father was a referee for 35 years.[10] He went to Brinsworth Comprehensive School.[11]
Refereeing career
Early career
Webb first took up refereeing in local leagues in 1989. In 1993, he progressed to the Northern Counties East League as an assistant referee, becoming a referee for that league two years later.[citation needed]
In 1996, he was appointed as a
Professional domestic career
In 2000, Webb was included on the National List of Football League referees and three years later was promoted to the Select Group of professional referees who can take charge of Premier League games. His first game in the top tier of English football was on 18 October 2003 when he took charge of a 0–0 draw between Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers.[14] He was appointed to FIFA's international referees' list in 2005.[15]
Since then, Webb has been appointed to referee some of world football's highest-profile matches, including a UEFA Champions League final and a FIFA World Cup final.[3]
Webb officiated the
In May 2006, Webb took charge of the FA Trophy final at Upton Park in London. Grays Athletic beat Woking 2–0 through goals from Dennis Oli and Glenn Poole, both just before half-time.[17] No players found their way into the book.
The
Webb took charge of the
European and international career
Webb's first international game was at Windsor Park, Belfast, in November 2005 when Northern Ireland hosted Portugal in a friendly match. It ended 1–1 with the home side scoring both goals: Northern Ireland went 1–0 down just before half-time through a Stephen Craigan own goal but Warren Feeney salvaged a draw by netting in the second half. Tony Capaldi, Keith Gillespie and James Quinn were booked for Northern Ireland.[20]
The
A UEFA Champions League group match on 26 September 2006 between
Webb was selected to officiate at the
In December 2007, Webb was selected as England's representative to referee at UEFA Euro 2008, with Darren Cann and Michael Mullarkey as his assistants.[30] Whilst refereeing his first match of the tournament, a Group B match between Austria and Poland, and with less than one minute left in stoppage time, he awarded Austria a penalty kick after he adjudged Poland's Mariusz Lewandowski to have pulled the shirt of Sebastian Prödl. The penalty was converted and the match finished 1–1.[31] UEFA official William Gaillard said the decision was not controversial and was correct.[32] Webb said that "the penalty was clear and I hope that people later will look at it and realise it was the only decision that could be taken".[33] Webb refereed his second game of Euro 2008 when he took charge of a Group D match in which Greece lost 2–1 to Spain.[34] UEFA stated on 19 June that Webb had not been selected to referee matches in the knock-out phase of the tournament.[35]
Webb was handed a one-week demotion to the
In June 2009, Webb was one of the referees at the
In May 2010, Webb was announced as the referee for the
In December 2011, Webb was named one of the 12 referees selected by UEFA to take charge of games at Euro 2012. He was in charge of a Group A fixture between Russia and Czech Republic on the opening day in Wrocław, a Group C fixture between Italy and Croatia in Poznań, and a quarter-final between the Czech Republic and Portugal in Warsaw.[citation needed]
Webb was selected as a referee for the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil. He refereed a Group A match in Fortaleza between Mexico and Brazil, which ended in a 2–0 win for the home nation; Webb issued five cautions.[citation needed]
2010 FIFA World Cup
On 24 October 2008, FIFA announced that Webb was on the provisional list of referees for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa[42] and later confirmed that Webb had been selected as a referee for the finals. Webb took charge of a Group H match between Spain and Switzerland in Durban, where Switzerland stunned Spain with a 1–0 win;[43] a Group F match between Italy and Slovakia in Johannesburg, which also resulted in an upset as Slovakia won and ended Italy's chances of progression;[44] and a round of 16 knockout match between Brazil and Chile, also in Johannesburg.[45]
Webb refereed the
The match was seen as a very difficult one to referee.[50][51][52] The Dutch were criticised for their rough play,[53][54] and some thought Webb was generous for not showing any red cards to the Dutch players until ten minutes before the end of extra time.[55][56] Webb later conceded that had he had a better viewing angle of a high challenge from Nigel de Jong he would have sent him off,[57] and De Jong later admitted he was "lucky" to only receive a yellow card.[58] FIFA president Sepp Blatter defended Webb, noting that it was "not easy" to control such a match. Former Premier League referee Jeff Winter said Webb "had a superb game"[59] while Scotland's Alan Hansen condemned the Dutch, saying that, "Webb tried to make the game flow but on this occasion he was left with no choice."[56] The British Referees' Association said "it would be almost impossible to disagree with any of the bookings he issued",[60] while former FA Cup final referee Keith Hackett noted that "anyone who criticises the officials lacks the knowledge and experience of someone who has refereed" and called on FIFA to punish the Dutch players who castigated Webb to the press.[61]
2014 FIFA World Cup
Webb took charge of three qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup. He refereed the UEFA qualification group D match between Turkey and Romania in October 2012 in Istanbul,[62] the Group E match between Norway and Switzerland in September 2013 in Oslo[63] and the Group A match between Croatia and Belgium in October 2013 in Zagreb.[64] In January 2014, it was announced that Webb had been included on the referees' list for the finals in Brazil.[65]
On 19 June, he officiated the Group C match between Colombia and the Ivory Coast in Brasília.[66] Webb also refereed the first knockout match on 28 June between Brazil and Chile in Belo Horizonte. Host nation Brazil won a penalty shootout 3–2 after the game finished 1–1 after extra-time.[67]
Retirement from active refereeing
On 6 August 2014, the Premier League announced that Webb had retired from active refereeing in order to take up the role of technical director of the
Webb then became director of referees for the
In August 2022 it was announced that Webb would return to the Professional Game Match Officials Limited as chief refereeing officer.[69]
Statistics
Match breakdown
Webb refereed 296 Premier League matches, 43 in the FA Cup, 36 in the Champions League, 19 in the EFL Cup, 6 in World Cups, 5 in European Championships, and 4 in Confederations Cups.[70]
Games and cards
Season | Games | Total | per game | Total | per game |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000–01 | 26 | 58 | 2.23 | 1 | 0.038 |
2001–02 | 32 | 69 | 2.16 | 5 | 0.16 |
2002–03 | 39 | 145 | 3.72 | 4 | 0.10 |
2003–04 | 34 | 92 | 2.94 | 9 | 0.26 |
2004–05 | 34 | 100 | 2.94 | 2 | 0.06 |
2005–06 | 47 | 117 | 2.49 | 7 | 0.15 |
2006–07 | 45 | 156 | 3.47 | 9 | 0.20 |
2007–08 | 46 | 166 | 3.61 | 4 | 0.09 |
2008–09 | 48 | 158 | 3.29 | 6 | 0.13 |
2009–10 | 45 | 177 | 3.93 | 5 | 0.11 |
2010–11 | 45 | 141 | 3.13 | 6 | 0.13 |
2011–12 | 51 | 167 | 3.28 | 5 | 0.10 |
2012–13 | 42 | 148 | 3.52 | 5 | 0.12 |
Total | 534 | 1,694 | 3.17 | 68 | 0.13 |
Statistics for all competitions including domestic, European and international. Records prior to 2000–01 are not available.[71]
Cautions and dismissals
Webb issued at least one card in every game he refereed in the 2002–03 and 2004–05 seasons. The first red card he showed in the Premier League was to Michael Svensson of Southampton for a second bookable offence in a 0–0 draw at Bolton Wanderers on 8 November 2003.[72] The 2003–04 season saw Webb issue his highest proportion of red cards yet: nine in 34 games. Between 17 February and 17 March 2007, he showed five red cards all in the 90th minute of matches.
In four fixtures since the 2000–01 season he has issued two red cards in the same game, three times dismissing one player from either side, and once reducing one team (
Webb has sent off two goalkeepers since 2000–01: Kelvin Davis of Wimbledon in December 2001[74] and John Filan of Wigan Athletic in March 2004.[75]
Personal life
Webb was married and has three children. He and his first wife separated in 2016.[citation needed] He is in a relationship with Bibiana Steinhaus, a German Bundesliga referee,[76] whom he married in March 2021.[77]
He was a sergeant in the
He is a Rotherham United supporter.[80][81]
In June 2011, Webb was made president of the Baris Northern Counties East Football League, a league in which he had once officiated.[82] In July 2011 he received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Bedfordshire.[83] In November 2011 he also gained an honorary degree from York St John University as a Doctor of Health Sciences.[84]
He began his career in policing in 1993 and took a five-year career break in 2008 to focus on refereeing. He returned to the South Yorkshire Police in April 2013.[85]
Bibliography
Date | Title | Publisher | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|
24 August 2017 | The Man in the Middle: The Autobiography of the World Cup Final Referee[86] | Simon & Schuster UK | 978-1-4711-5977-8 |
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External links
- Howard Webb at Refworld.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 21 August 2011)
- Howard Webb refereeing career statistics at Soccerbase
- Howard Webb referee profile at Soccerway
- Howard Webb referee profile at WorldFootball.net
- Howard Webb referee profile at EU-Football.info