Sat 10 July 2010
English Premier League referee Howard Webb, will officiate this year’s World Cup finals
England may have been knocked out of the World Cup in South Africa, but they have one person to represent them in the finals: in English Premier League referee Howard Webb. Fellow Englishmen Darren Cann and Michael Mullarkey will be Webb’s assistant in Sunday's final between Holland and Spain in Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium.
Howard Melton Webb started his refereeing career in the Northern Counties East Football League, which consists of the Premier Division and Division One. For two years he worked as an assistant and then officially got promoted to a on-field referee to the division which is ninth and tenth levels below the football pyramid respectively.
After five years in the Northern Counties East Football League he once again got promoted to The Football League (one level below the Premier League) but as an assistant . Within two years the 38-year-old Webb was promoted to the Barclays Premier League as an assistant referee but simultaneously was assigned the Football Conference as an onfield referee.
In 2000, Webb was nominated to referee the Football League but after three years he reached the top flight of football in England.
Premier League refereeing career:
After spending almost ten years as a full time and assistant in three different leagues, Howard Webb officially became a referee in the English Premier League in 2003. Since then Webb has been the no. 1 referee in the EPL and has set an example for other aspiring referees who want to make it in the big league.
World Cup Finals English referee:
Howard Webb becomes only the second English referee to officiate a World Cup final, after Jack Taylor in 1974. Ironically Jack Taylor also officiated an all European finals in 1974, when Holland got beaten by West Germany 2-1.
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