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Will the Premier League’s oldest ever official get one more year in the topflight, or will he be forced into retirement?

According to former Premier League official and PGMOL boss Keith Hackett, Graham Scott “should retire” as he “cannot keep up with the pace of the game.”

Scott, on the other hand, believes it’s a decision that has never and will never be in his hands.

“I’ve always taken the view that I never claimed to be any good. Other people have decided I’m good enough to do that job and other people have appointed me to go and do it.”

Despite critics, Scott’s athletic performance speaks for itself and it’s clear to see the Oxfordshire-born referee can still keep up with the best.

“I’m well within expectations for sprint times, obviously the longer distance running gets harder as you get older. 

“On-field I feel confident, and I’m comfortably fit enough to referee a Premier League game.” 

The 55-year-old recently became the oldest ever Premier League referee following the retirement of pantomime villain Mike Dean last year, but where did it all start for the former Wantage Town goalkeeper?

At 27, Scott injured himself whilst playing as a goalkeeper and decided to head Down Under to spend a year playing cricket before returning to his homeland, looking to reinvolve himself with football.

“I didn’t want to play anymore. I’d got as far as I could see myself going, I wasn’t interested in coaching, and I’d always had it in the back of my mind that reffing might be for me. 

“I qualified in September 1997 and got to do my first game at the end of November, when I’d just turned 29.”

After just one season refereeing men’s football, Scott was asked if he would like to apply for promotion.

“My mindset in life has always been to try and get better at something and see whether there's any progress, so I said yes.

“But at the end of the next season, I got that promotion, and they asked if I’d like to go for another one.”

It was at this point Scott would be automatically enrolled as a Southern League assistant referee and referee for the Hellenic League.

“Once you’re on that ladder, if people think you’re good enough, it’s like an escalator, you just keep progressing. 

“When I got to the conference, I realised I was in the frame to be involved with the Football League and that’s when I really started going for it.

“I’d never thought about the Premier League until I got to the Football League.” 

Unfortunately, despite the lucrative salary of the players this country’s top officials share the pitch with, it only becomes a career for those right at the very top. 

“As a professional career, it only became serious in the last four or five years when I got to the Premier League, because I was still working whilst I was in the Football League. 

“It was only after three years in the Premier League I felt secure enough to use that as my income, because the salary is three different components. 

“It’s 50 per cent retainer salary, 25 per cent match fees and then roughly 25 per cent in bonus fees depending on how you do.”

As the oldest Premier League official, Scott often finds himself as a fourth official, but despite this, he still has to maintain the same levels of fitness in case he is called into action.

If you’ve ever wondered what an average week looks like for a Premier League referee, Scott has the details.

“Assuming you’ve refereed on the Saturday, Sunday would be a recovery session at the gym, maybe a swim or a combination of stretching and cycling, nothing too impactful.

“Monday would be a rest day and Tuesday is where you would do your main high intensity running session.

“Wednesday would be a recovery day so this is when I’d have a massage, Thursday is strength and conditioning in groups and then Friday would be some speed work.”

At 55, Scott is almost 20 years senior to Michael Oliver, the Premier League’s youngest official, but he is still in great shape and confident of operating as a top-level official.

“The idea is that our training is really tough so that our games are easy, so I normally do 8km-9km per game, some do 10km per game but that’s largely down to their style.” 

As well as the physical side, select group officials also have access to a team of psychologists who have the role of not only checking mental well-being, but also supporting on-field body language to make officials look strong and decisive. 

A lot of referees are subjected to their fair share of social media and in-ground abuse, however the former BMA journalist doesn’t feel quite the same pressure as some of his colleagues when it comes to refereeing at the highest level.

“I don't find being a referee stressful.

“Doing the job, the 90 minutes is the easiest part of it. Because you make a decision, the best decision you can, and you get a few wrong. 

“There’s a lot that are subjective and a lot that will divide opinion, but we get very few objectively wrong and I’m reconciled with that.

“So, if I get the decision wrong, I haven’t done so through dishonesty or incompetence, there will be other factors at play. Most likely my position or I’ve not seen it for what it is but in that case it’s about going back and working out what you got wrong, but that’s never going to give me a psychological crisis.”

So, if refereeing the 90 minutes is the easiest part of the job, then you’re probably intrigued to know the hardest part of the job.

“It’s the fallout from the game, every decision is analysed, and you’re told whether it’s right or wrong and whether it was expected or difficult and you get a mark which produces a merit list. 

“Any decision that’s questionable you get asked to justify it, what you were thinking, why you did it and do you still think that you’re right.

“I've had that moment where I turn on the telly in the morning a bit bleary-eyed, and they’re talking about me, something I've done, or just my picture. 

“At that point you just want to get on with your life. Ideally, you’d just be able to go to the game, come home and never worry about it again. 

“That’s unrealistic, we expect to be held accountable and we are.”

Football fans often have unrealistic expectations of referees and tolerance for mistakes is now at an all-time low.

But how much of that outside noise makes its way into the mind of the referee?

“I’m only interested in what people think because it gives me feedback, it’s useless if you completely dismiss what people think about something you’ve done because you won’t learn. 

“I filter the criticism and I won’t be obsessed by it.

“There are times when it bothers me, of course it bothers me. There’s times when I can be walking down the high street here and you don’t know what people are thinking, there’s that moment where people might be thinking “oh look it’s that idiot from Saturday night.”

“But for me that’s very rare, ultimately I think I’ve done the best I can.” 

In the last year or so, Scott’s involvement in Premier League matches have come predominantly as a fourth official, with just six appearances as a referee this season.

Interestingly, Scott highlighted the role of the fourth official and whether it was necessary to have the fourth official pitch side as their only involvement seems to be prising apart angry managers.

“I wouldn’t have fourth officials on the side of the pitch. I see no purpose other than breaking up the aggrieved.

“I think the ideal model would be to put one bench on one side of the pitch and one on the other and then you don't have the warring factions anyway. 

“You can still tell the referee about violent conduct and incidents further away from the pitch. In fact, you can do it more effectively.

“I don't know why football managers aren’t in a box in the stands, why are they on the touchline other than the pantomime of standing on the side line waving their arms, running around telling people off and berating the fourth official?”

Scott became a Premier League official in 2014 and has experienced first-hand the trials and tribulations of VAR since its arrival in August 2019. 

As an official who has experienced refereeing with and without VAR, Scott offers a unique and interesting perspective as to the impact VAR has had on the game. 

“On-field, mostly it’s positive but occasionally, you’ll misread something or something you couldn’t have seen, and I’ve had that this season. 

“In real-time you just couldn’t see it, so that’s where VAR gets the right outcome and that’s great because after the game, no one’s questioning the decision.

“Because of course in football, every penalty is an automatic goal, isn’t it? 

“It takes away the obvious, what would have been called howlers.”

Football fans often become far too engrossed in the game to think clearly about the full picture, but the statistics don’t lie. 

According to the Premier League website, in the “2018/19 season, before VAR was introduced, the percentage of correct key match decisions was 82 per cent and with the help of VAR in 2019/20, it rose to 94 per cent.”

Reffing some of the biggest names in sport on a weekly basis is challenging but does it help to know the players and who might be susceptible to more troublesome outbursts?

“The familiarity helps, seeing people over and over again. Even when you’re fourth official, you see the players in the tunnel because they’re around you and sometimes they’ll recognise you. 

“They all know you because you’ve reffed most teams 8-10 times, and you know the ones who are most likely to cause you problems. 

“You build a relationship with those players early to stop things happening before they start, so that’s easier than a lower league game where you don’t ref them regularly or half of the teams changed.

“The pitches are better, and the quality of football is better so it’s much more predictable.”

While the football might be predictable and the players far more familiar, the level of expectation is higher and so too is the speed of the game. 

“It’s much quicker and when the decisions come, they’re harder so it’s anticipating where you need to be to make that decision quickly. 

“In the championship, it’s less predictable because you’re more likely to get a longer ball or a physical challenge and there’s a lot of aerial challenges which are harder to judge.” 

Out of the select group of referees, those who aren’t allocated a Premier League role will referee a Championship game but with the gap between the Premier League and the Championship getting bigger, is it harder for referees to adapt game to game?

“You allow more physical challenges in the Championship and that gap has widened.  

“Since Guardiola’s first season in the Premier League, almost every single team has changed their play style, most teams will try and pass through the press and play through the thirds.”

Media perception seems to be the overriding factor in fans’ views of referees and Scott believes a bit more “transparency” would be a “good thing”.

“Having worked as a journalist myself, I think there’s lots of proactive things we could be doing within the media to explain what we do. 

“We could show people how VAR works and release the comms from games which would be very illuminating and might take away some of the criticism.

“You’ll never stop people criticising if it’s their team because they’re too partisan and too biased, but most people watching the game on the television aren’t supporting a team so they’re your captive audience to explain a decision. 

“I would be more than happy for my games to be broadcast on the tannoy because I know I’m comfortable that what I say could be broadcast, not all of my colleagues would agree.”

Throughout his career Scott has been a model professional who prides himself on the fact that “not a lot happens” in his games.

Many fans will share the opinion that the best referees are the ones you don’t see or notice, but the real question is: will we see Graham Scott officiating in the Premier League next year?

“The test is getting harder, I’m the oldest ever Premier League referee so you’re always on borrowed time, but if I pass the test next summer, I’ll do another year.

“Reffing in the Premier League is a bit like playing for England, once you’ve got your cap no one can take that away from you.”

To his friends, he’s just “happy-go-lucky Pete Walton” but to football fans, he’s the fence-sitting former referee on BT Sport.

So, what’s the real story behind Peter Walton?

A former semi-professional footballer turned referee and avid Northampton Town fan, Walton initially hoped he might make it as a footballer before turning his attention to officiating.

Walton only started reffing for “beer money” but the former Premier League official soon began to realise he could go much further than the local leagues.

“I started refereeing in 1986 in the local parks and within 10 years I was running the line in the 1996 FA Cup Final. So it was quite a meteoric rise for me.

“It was only the target of refereeing at the standard that I played at, nothing any higher than that, I'd never had the delusions of reffing in the Premier League or in the English Football League.”

After initially having no interest in even becoming a referee, Walton began to rise up the ranks, sacrificing social time in order to concentrate on becoming a better official. 

“I started to make progress when I knuckled down and started to behave like a proper referee, not going out with the lads on a Friday night and all that business.

“I managed to get through the system and in the 1992/1993 season I was invited to become an assistant in the Football League. 

“I thought then, that was utopia. I thought that's as far as I want to go or as far as I could possibly go.”

Despite refereeing various cup finals and in the Premier League, the Northampton-born official believes one of his biggest career achievements was in fact reaching the English Football League.

“I remember when I got that letter to go to the Football League as an assistant; I carried that letter around with me for about two months. 

“I was so proud. It was unbelievable to be on the Football League, I couldn't believe it.”

Walton described the step up to the Premier League as an assistant as not a “big thing” as it was just another game. But, after finding himself mixing in the professional world, it wasn’t long before he was to experience another career highlight.

In a remarkable set of circumstances back in 1996, the Englishman was almost forced to give up professional refereeing entirely. 

“I ran the line in the FA Cup final in 1996 on the Saturday which was a big moment for me. and on the Monday, I went back to work for a company called PowerGen, which was a utility company.

“As part of work, I'd signed up to go to South Africa on a project for a year, so I gave up everything. I remember writing to the Football Association, because I was on the FIFA list as an assistant, and saying that I was going away for a year. 

“I asked if they would hold open my position until I came back, and the answer came back as categorically no.”

After such a career-high running the line for the FA Cup final, just months later Walton was forced to forfeit his position and his badges, believing he may never be given them back. Fortunately, this wasn’t the case.

“I went away in ‘96/97, to work in South Africa and when I came back, the Football Association basically gave me everything back again, including my FIFA badges, which was a great highlight.”

After five more years of hard work in the Football League, Walton would eventually be offered a role as a Premier League referee. 

“I can remember there was five of us, selected from the Football League in 2002, to go for an interview to become what was then quite a new set of referees because the select group, as it was called, was only established two years before.

“Out of five referees there was only two places.”

The news of his promotion didn’t come immediately following the interview, but unbeknown to Walton, he was about to officiate his final match in the Football League. 

“I was refereeing a play-off match: Sheffield United versus Nottingham Forest. A classic game, really great game. It was second leg in semi-finals a match that ended 4-3 to Sheffield United.

“As I was driving to the ground, my boss as it was then a chap called Phillip Don, rang me and said, ‘have a great game this evening, congratulations and well done on getting the appointment.’ 

“But make sure you have good game because you'll have better games next season when you operate in the Premier League. 

“I nearly swerved off the road. I couldn’t believe that I’d been offered the job.”

Described by Walton himself as the “purest highlight” of his career, the former semi-pro footballer was in good company as he and now PGMOL boss Howard Webb were the two officials awarded positions in the Premier League for the 2003/2004 season. 

Walton’s first Premier League game came in the form of a Midlands derby as Wolves took on Leicester.

“Leicester were 3-0 up at half-time and got beat 4-3, so that was a great game for my first one in the Premier League.”

But it wasn’t all plain sailing and goals galore as Walton soon found out.

As Walton himself highlighted, one of the hardest and most important parts of being a referee is keeping mentally fit as well as physically.  

“Physically, we were taken care of, but with the introduction of things like VAR, we needed help with the mental aspect of it and that began to build throughout the 2000s. 

“It really did help me; I was great advocate of using the psychologist and that helped me not only as a referee but also in my life in general.

“How do you cope with 50,000 people telling you you’ve done something wrong, or when the media hammer you and you're on the back page of the newspaper for two or three days?”

As a referee that came into the profession fairly late compared to other officials, Walton’s mindset was a key factor in achieving as much as he did in what was a relatively short Premier League career. 

“I was too old really to get selected onto the Premier League anyway, so everything was a bonus for me. 

“I actually looked at it that way; that if my name was on the sheet the following week, then I’m just happy to still be involved.”

While the laws are the same in both grassroots football and the Premier League, the speed of the topflight requires a much higher level of fitness. 

Walton was 40 when he received the nod to be in the Premier League, so how did he get there when there were so many promising young referees coming through?

“I can remember speaking to the Football League referees officer, the year before I got promoted and I said to him, ‘what do I need to get promoted on to the Premier League?’ 

“And he said, ‘Pete, with your age against you, you need to finish top of the pile.’ 

“So, I finished top of the pile, because I'd got a target to aim for and the discipline in me was such that I was able to make sure I saw it through. 

“You're there because of ability, but once you’re there, it’s very difficult to stay there.”

Getting to the Premier League was one thing but maintaining that position year-in, year-out requires a lot of dedication. Similar to professional footballers, professional referees have a certain level of fitness they have to uphold. 

“On the surface, I always portrayed this couldn't-care-less attitude, because I wanted to be one of the boys.

“But when it came to my training regime, I was working really hard behind the scenes and I was taking my diet really seriously, my drinking, my social hours. 

But it’s not all about fitness. Like many things, with age comes experience and this is something that Walton believes benefited him significantly towards the end of his career.

“In my latter years as a referee in the Premier League, I was refereeing better than I ever had done before, primarily because I'd looked after myself, but also, because I was being accepted by the teams and their managers, because they knew who Pete Walton was.”

Walton learned throughout his time in the Premier League that managing the game started at the team sheet exchange and in his own words, relationships with players “never started on the field.”

“I knew players who I needed to completely ignore, because they were so focused on the game, or players I could have a discussion with, or players I needed to chastise, so you've got that relationship going.”

Many former referees have criticised current referees for failing to know the law, amazingly something that Walton, a former elite level referee, doesn’t agree with.

“Refereeing a football match is not about knowing the law, it's about applying the law, but knowing how to manage situations, and you'll find that especially in the Premier League, because you have a lot of egos and a lot of pressure on you.

“There are a number of referees who could beat me, if you gave me a law quiz, hands down all the time, but they can't referee a football match.”

The majority of abuse directed at referees these days comes in the form of online abuse and whilst Walton believes the attributes of social media are “wonderful” in terms of communication, there’s no denying the negative effects of it.

“What you're doing is you're giving a global platform to people with either a very small brain or no idea about the laws of the game, and my colleagues suffer, I suffer even now on that subject. 

“I think it's been good for many things don't get me wrong, but I don't think it's been good for the game. 

“The spotlight on referees is on my colleagues now more than it ever before.”

Not only had the introduction of social media made it more difficult for referees, but the ever-increasing level of broadcast material enables broadcasters to capture refereeing errors from every possible angle.

“I can remember doing a game at Liverpool with Martin Tyler and we were walking the field, this would have been sometime in the noughties. 

“He was really happy, and he said to me, “Pete, make sure you're on your metal today.” 

“So, I said, “why is that?” He said, “we've got 24 different camera angles inside the ground.” 

“Now, as a journalist, Martin was really happy with that. But I stood in the middle of Anfield, and I looked at him and said, “Martin, I've got one pair of eyes and one chance to get a decision right.” 

Since retiring as a referee, Walton has taken up a position as a pundit on BT Sport analysing referee decisions in some of the biggest Premier League and Champions League games. 

Walton initially declined the work as he was worried about speaking badly of his former colleagues on national television. However, when BT came asking a second time, he put a lot more thought into his response. 

“I phoned up half a dozen current referees and said, ‘I've been given this opportunity, what do you think?’

“All of them said, ‘go for it Pete, because you can use it as a basis to educate the public, rather than just slag people off.’”

Walton has received a lot of criticism for being a fence-sitter and while the former Premier League referee is aware of his critics, he has good reasons for the opinions that he gives.

“I'd like to think I'm not just there as a Billy big time saying, “oh, you got it wrong”, or “I wouldn't do it that way.”

“It's more of an educational thing because don't forget, I now work in TV and TV want entertainment as well. 

“They don’t want someone who’s sitting there, bland. They want somebody to come out and express.

“It’s a very hard gig to do to be honest with you, especially if there's a live game.”

As a former referee, football fans should perhaps realise that Walton isn’t a TV personality by nature and took the role in order to try and educate others from a referee’s perspective, but with that seemingly backfiring it’s easy to see how the pressure of live TV can catch people out.

“Sometimes in that moment, my mind's on overdrive as I’m trying to put myself in the mindset of the referee as to why he would do that, or why hasn't he done that? 

“Not only have I got to know the law but also I've got to know the reasoning behind why the referee has done something.” 

With the added addition of VAR, Walton, like most football fans, is often left waiting in the studio to hear the official verdict before he gives his opinion. But, what fans might not know is that he was in fact one of the original creators of VAR.

“I was part of a group of seven who invented VAR for the Russia World Cup in 2018. 

“So, I'm coming from a bit of a biased angle, I’ll always be a supporter of VAR.”

With many football fans unhappy with the waiting times of VAR and also the outcomes, is it fair to say that VAR is causing as many problems as it irons out?

“What we have at the moment, is a fantastic technical system that is absolutely first-class. Unfortunately, we have some issues with the operators and how they intervene in terms of a consistent approach and their training methods.”

While all referees will appreciate having as many aids as possible in order to help them arrive at the correct decision, Walton highlighted the added mental pressures that come with tools such as VAR that aren’t clear to fans watching on. 

“What we didn't delve into when we first introduced it was the mental pressures on the match referee and in terms of the spin-offs, you get a good decision right and you can be told that because someone is looking at it from different angles, and it feels good.

“But when I was a referee, although we didn't have VAR I had assistants, I had fourth officials who would talk to me through my telecom saying, “Pete, great decision, well done”, see it plain as daylight and that built the confidence up in your refereeing on a particular day.”

In the last season or so, we’ve seen more and more officials head to the monitor after being encouraged to do so by both the PGMOL, but that has just brought more questions from fans as to why nothing ever seems to be overturned. 

“No referee wants to make the 50-yard walk to the monitor.

“No referee wants to say, “s**t, I’ve missed a clear and obvious error,” so his mindset walking over to the monitor is already subconsciously saying, “I’ve got something wrong.”

“Lots of people say, ‘he hardly ever overturns his decision when he reaches the monitor’ and it’s two things.

“One is that he’s only there if it’s a clear and obvious error, so it must jump out of the page at him, but secondly, his mindset is already telling him he’s got something wrong.”

In recent times we’ve seen more and more incidents between referees and managers, but Walton insists: “What you see on TV is not always the full picture, most of them are just regular guys chomping at the bit to win.”

As Walton left the Premier League to take up a new challenge in the United States doing punditry work for the MLS, the Premier League asked him where he’d like to go for his final game.

“I told the Premier League I wanted go to Goodison Park because I liked the atmosphere and it’s a great old ground. 

“When I got there, Steve Round, David Moyes’ assistant at the time, brought the team sheet in and he just made reference to the fact it was my last game and asked if I would pop in to see David after the game just to say goodbye.

“Bear in mind I’d had my run-ins with Mr Moyes on a number of occasions, shouting arguments down the tunnel (Anglo-Saxon language, used the whole works).

“I refereed the game, and when I went into his office, he’d got all my family there and a big buffet and presentation.

“That was all down to David Moyes, and he said to me “Pete we’ve had our moments, but I respect you as a person and a referee and we’re sorry to see you go.”

A pioneer of officiating in the modern game, responsible for the introduction of goal line technology and widely regarded as one of the best referees the country has ever seen, Keith Hackett has dedicated his life to improving English football’s refereeing standards.

Like most referees, Hackett initially became involved in the game as a player with no future ambitions of becoming a referee: “I was captain of a local junior team and the county FA decided to encourage every team to provide one of their players to learn the laws of the game with the idea of passing it onto the team on the field of play.

“I took that exam; I had no intentions of refereeing. I had a Saturday off where I had no game and the county FA picked up on that.”

What started as a hobby soon blossomed into something that had the potential to become a future career. But, despite his meteoric rise up the ranks, Hackett stayed true to his roots and his passion for local football. 

“I continued to referee grass roots football throughout my career. I might referee an international game on a Tuesday evening and then two pub teams on a Sunday.”

After 12 years of refereeing grass roots football, the former PGMOL boss was promoted to the football league in 1972. 

Hackett’s mindset and determination to referee every match the same, be it a Sunday league game or at the World Cup, is perhaps one of the key factors for his success.

“I think you have a mentality; I certainly did which is that every game is a cup final and therefore I treated it the same, but it wasn’t as difficult to referee, and I was perhaps more relaxed without a crowd there.”

Hackett was determined to stay fit as a referee that came into the game later than most, with the Sheffield-born official setting himself clear goals and targets in order to climb the ranks.

“I would try and get 100 matches in per season on the basis that the more you refereed, the better you became.” 

In the present day, Premier League officials have access to a whole host of facilities and professional teams in order to maintain peak physical and mental well-being, however this wasn’t always the case, and it was in fact Hackett who introduced the element of professionalism into refereeing. 

But before all this was brought in, how did Hackett himself maintain his fitness without any kind of routine set out for him?

“My training was the discipline of getting up at 6am, finding a run the night before and hitting it at 6am in the morning, but there was no framework to it, so you’d go out and have business lunches which meant the body mass was different back then.”

Fearing that the game was progressing and getting quicker, it was Hackett who went to the Premier League and requested professional referees. 

Logistically, it was becoming more and more difficult for referees to get out of their day jobs in order to officiate games in far-off corners of the country, an experience Hackett is all too familiar with.

“After refereeing New Zealand vs Australia in Auckland, I received a call saying I’d been suspended for taking leave without permission, a case which I later won.

“On another occasion I had a new job, and we had a board meeting on the same day I returned from reffing a UEFA game. 

“To get back in time for the meeting I paid £2000 out of my own money for flights home in order to retain my job.”

In the current climate these sorts of situations would never arise, as referees are now paid a significant match fee, whilst also netting a retainer salary each year to be part of the select group of officials. 

After becoming boss of the Professional game match officials board in 2004, Hackett sought about adding professional level staff to support his team of referees and improve their physical fitness.

“I brought in a sports science guy on a full-time basis called Professor Matt Weston, and we penned out regimes based on various intensities of refereeing. 

“We increased the fitness and mobility of referees and created speed profiles so we could deal with reality rather than perception.”

Most uniquely, Hackett introduced vision scientists to his team in order to look at ways of increasing peripheral vision and studying the reaction times of seeing something.

“The process of a referee is to see, to recognise, to think and then act and you wanted to see and measure how quickly they see things and apply the laws of the game. 

“The best referees are the ones that can react quickly to the decision-making process.”

While physical fitness is easy to improve, Hackett also brought in a team of sports psychologists to try and improve the mental well-being of his referees.

In 2023, our society is well aware of the importance of having good mental health, but 20 years ago the introduction of psychologists into something such as refereeing would have been more or less unheard of. 

Speaking to Dr Errol Sweeney, a former professional referee and sports psychologist, he highlighted how important psychology is in terms of being a good referee. 

“Refereeing is not for everyone, or the faint-hearted. It takes someone with a strong character, a cool head, and a determination to apply the Laws of the Game to the letter regardless of who is playing or the nature of the competition.” 

Sweeney also highlighted some of the modern-day challenges officials face with modern technology such as Video Assistant Referee creating additional controversy if a decision is deemed to be incorrect by fans.

“Generally, your gut feeling when making a decision is the correct one. Referees are human and like all humans are prone to making mistakes, these mistakes are genuine and not made with intention or ulterior motives. 

“I feel that VAR is being relied on far too much and some referees are now using it as a crutch to help them make a decision; that to me is what I call ‘refereeing cowardice.’”

Of course, even if a correct decision is made, fans are now able to voice their opinions online and direct abuse at officials on a variety of social media platforms. 

“Social media is becoming more and more intrusive on and in people’s lives. For the strong-willed it can be overridden but for those with a weaker disposition, it can have devastating effects. 

“My advice for referees is to stay away from social media as much as possible and to ignore any comments that may be there about an individual or individuals.”

Refereeing becoming professional is just one of many things that has increased the difficulty of the job, because as technology gets better, the scrutiny of the officials in question gets worse. 

Hackett has been outspoken throughout his career and isn’t afraid to publicly criticise after recently calling for Lee Mason to be sacked in an article he wrote for the Independent. 

However, Hackett does believe a lot of criticism that is received by officials is due to external factors that are out of the referee’s control.

“In the Premier League’s early years, the cameras increased from three a game to a minimum of 22 cameras at each match. As a result of this, at the click of a button, the TV producer could go in and get the angle not afforded to the referee.” 

With camera angles covering more and more referee mistakes, Hackett recalls his time as a PGMOL boss when he witnessed live evidence of referees needing additional support when making decisions. 

“I was sat at Old Trafford, and I watched Roy Carroll drop the ball over the line. The referee Mark Halsey was at the halfway line and the assistant referee was in line with the secondary-most forward defender in midfield.

“Neither of them had the opportunity to see whether the ball had crossed the line and the goal wasn’t given.

“Referees can’t guess, they have to see it.

“Two or three months later at the annual conference of the Premier League owners and managers, I put forward the proposal for the introduction of goal-line technology.”

Not only was the former Premier League official responsible for the introduction of goal-line technology, but he also bought in communication kits after visiting Twickenham and listening to the rugby match officials.  

Since leaving his position as the PGMOL boss, Hackett has remained in and around the world of referees and was one of the key figures in the emergence of football’s modern officiating technology. 

However, one thing Hackett was not responsible for was VAR, but he was quick to offer his verdict on how effective he thinks VAR has been in the past four seasons since its introduction to the Premier League. 

“I think in England we’ve not operated VAR well; what they should have avoided is when you introduce new technology, there’s an over-reliance on it.

“So as an outcome we have two things I think, we’ve potentially got a group of lazy referees with an over-reliance on VAR, and we’ve got a VAR operator who’s struggling to determine what is a clear and obvious error.”

During his tenure, Hackett implemented the procedure of having teams of linesman with a specific referee in the hope of creating a “tighter knit team” that would gain the trust of each other.

This trust in his eyes would translate into better conversations with officials having more confidence to discuss decisions that went wrong and why they went wrong.

While this isn’t the case with VAR, Hackett suggested that a similar approach could perhaps benefit officials.

“At the moment we have a guy who might be reffing on a Saturday and in control of VAR on the Sunday and I think it should be considered as two separate roles. 

“I think it’s wishy-washy and I think it’s been appalling really so don’t blame it on technology.”

Since stepping back from the game, Hackett has shared a rational view with most fans when it comes to VAR and how it should be operated.

“I saw VAR operating in the same way as Rugby Union when it was first being talked about, a big screen in the stadium with the three match officials coming together.  

“They stand facing the big screen with everyone able to listen in and see the outcome.”

This level of transparency is something that most football fans would appreciate, however Hackett doesn’t agree with recent calls for referees to be forced to speak to the media post-match.

“What is the referee going to say? They either got it right or they got it wrong. They’ll defend their position, and the media will always disagree.”

“Will they have an interview with the referee when he’s had such an outstanding game?”

While Hackett believes a lot of the criticism is unwarranted, there are circumstances where fans have a right to be angry especially when the PGMOL themselves are unable to provide valid explanations when decisions have been deemed incorrect.

“I think what’s important is when there is an error or a debate that there is in fact someone who can provide an accurate assessment of that decision with regards to law.

“Sadly, this season I’ve seen a spokesperson for the PGMOL actually come out and quote law incorrectly - now that is a concern.”

The 78-year-old former Premier League referee racked up more than 1,000 grassroots games, as well as over 100 professional games throughout his career and since retiring, Hackett believes there has been a noticeable decrease in standards. 

“I’ve seen a decline; in my era we did endurance training to make sure at the end of 90 minutes, you weren’t exhausted and could do extra time if need be.

“Nothing pleases me more than a good referee’s performance, but when I see referees who are struggling physically, they pass a fitness test and that’s their answer “we’ve passed a fitness test.”

“Well, they can train for the fitness test, pass it and then decline.”

Hackett is one of the most well-respected officials the English game has ever seen, perhaps due to his no-nonsense approach both as a referee and as the PGMOL boss.

However, despite believing there has been a decline in the standards of officiating, Hackett doesn’t believe the constant law changes have made it any easier for referees. 

“If there’s a law change that without a shadow of a doubt has made life more difficult for our referees, it’s handball.

“What is a handball? I think the law is too grey; it’s subjective on the basis of a player making his body shape bigger and I can put 100 referees in a room and get a 60/40 view on it.

“We can all hide behind the fact he’s only a metre away when he kicks it but if it’s interpreted consistently, I think the handball law could be a relatively simple one, but the officials in the Premier League and around the world don’t.”

He may be regarded as one of the top referees the country has ever seen, but Hackett is arguably one of the most influential figures in the refereeing world due to his contribution to English football post-retirement.

From requesting referees become professional, to the implementation of communication headsets and goal-line technology, Hackett walked so that future referees could run.

Referee, mentor, and MBE. Alan Snoddy witnessed first-hand Diego Maradona’s infamous hand of God moment that shattered English hearts nearly 40 years ago.

Snoddy lives and breathes football from his early days in local parks as a player, right through to sharing a World Cup final pitch with some of the game’s all-time greats. 

When you think about modern-day referees, one of the reasons they climb the ladder so fast is because they start so young, and this was most definitely the case for Alan Snoddy. 

“I was 16 when I started which today is perfectly normal, but when I started I was the sole guy so it was very noticeable. It probably helped a little bit because people talked about the young referee and it gave me a little more attention than you would get these days.”

Like many young footballers, Snoddy knew his football skills weren’t quite at the required standard to become a professional, but the Northern Irishman was keen to remain involved with football.

“I love football but knowing that I wasn’t going to make it as a top player, I found an outlet in refereeing.”

Not only was Snoddy a young grassroots referee, but he was also the youngest ever World Cup referee when he was selected to officiate at the Mexico 1986 tournament, a decision that took him by surprise. 

“It still seems a bit surreal to be honest. It came as a complete shock at the time when the selection was made. 

“At that stage I had six years’ international experience, which was not as much as most of the referees had, but at that time FIFA were also conscious of developing younger referees. 

“It was an unbelievable experience being with the top referees in the world and all the learning you get from that.”

Standing side by side with footballing icons such as Diego Maradona, Lothar Matthäus and Gary Lineker would have been daunting for a 31-year-old referee, so how did Snoddy keep his nerve?

“You have to blank out the magnitude of the game. Do you enjoy the game when you’re mixing with these top players? The honest answer is you don’t have time to stand back and admire these top players, you’ve got to focus completely on your job, and you make decisions automatically based on what you see in front of you. 

“If you start to think about the quality of the players or the consequences of making a bad decision, then your mind starts to wander so it’s purely about the next decision.”

It seems that on the pitch Snoddy was focused and determined to make the correct decision, but the former international referee does remember feeling starstruck ahead of his first World Cup match.

“One thing that has never left me is standing in that tunnel for my first appointment as an assistant referee for Argentina vs Italy.

“I can vividly recall to this day the three of us at the front leading the players out, I turned round and saw all these world-class players behind me. 

“For a few seconds the magnitude kicked in, the emotion kicked in, the responsibilities and everything just suddenly hit me that this was for real and then I was able to say ‘let’s just take a step back and focus, it’s 22 players, it’s the next decision.’”

Snoddy was in the ground for Maradona’s infamous hand of God moment alongside a group of other officials, but at the time the magnitude of the incident wasn’t fully clear to see.

“I had a suspicion that it was handball, but I couldn’t see it clearly from where I was because obviously you didn’t have all the TV replays back then. 

“It was certainly a discussion at full-time and following the game you sit back and think to yourself ‘wow I’ve just witnessed one of the most controversial footballing decisions ever on the world’s biggest stage.’”

Despite all of the changes in football with the introduction of goal-line technology, communication kits and VAR, Snoddy still recalls there being a large focus on officials back then, long before the introduction of the vast broadcast coverage we have now.

“Obviously back in ‘86, there was television coverage but nothing like the television coverage there is today, but if you put it into context, there was still a massive focus on us.”

The Belfast-born official believes that changes to the game itself have caused a need for technological developments in order to arrive at the correct decision. 

“The tackle has not gone out of the game completely but it’s certainly not the same volume of challenges for the ball, now it’s more interceptions, or mistakes are made. 

“There are so many things that affect a referee’s decision, such as does he have a clear view, is there a quick deflection off the ball, the speed of play. All of these things have certainly increased over the years and back in ‘86 it would have been a lot more physical than it is today.”

Snoddy insists that all of the technology bought into the game is there “to help the referee arrive at the correct decision.”

With many football fans often unhappy about the decision VAR comes to, does it fall down to individual interpretation or is there a technological flaw? 

Snoddy believes that the “human element” of VAR is what could be behind the countless mistakes that seem to be made at the top level.

“It’s still work in progress in many places and human beings are still involved in the decision-making process.

“It’s clearly designed to eliminate the clear and obvious mistake, the black and white

mistake you can see with one television replay in front of you that gives you a completely different angle from the one the referee has had on the field of play. 

“So, you look at it once and it’s wrong, maybe look at it twice just to confirm.

“But once you start having to look at countless television replays and different angles it becomes more subjective, and this isn’t really what VAR was designed for.

“In my view it was brought in to correct the clear important mistakes, not to get the binoculars out looking for some minor and completely normal football contact.” 

Every season it seems there is a new piece of technology or law change for referees to learn and the psychological impact of refereeing cannot be underestimated.

However, in a world of constant abuse and criticism, Snoddy believes there could be psychological benefits to refereeing with the introduction of VAR.

“Psychology can work in two ways, and it can be used as encouragement, ‘congratulations you’ve made a decision on the field’, and it’s been confirmed as correct so you can move onto the next one without it playing on your mind.”

Unfortunately, as Snoddy says in his own words “Psychology can work in two ways” and with all the positives comes even more negatives.

“It’s more difficult to deal with the decision you’ve got wrong when you go for the on-field review, and you see the picture that you didn’t see on the field of play.”

With topflight referees being subjected to abuse every weekend, there seems to have been a decline in respect towards football officials with every decision scrutinised sometimes for days on end.

“I would say the lack of respect has increased. I don’t remember back in ’86 this lack of respect towards referees and I think in society, that respect for referees has deteriorated over the years.

“I know social media plays a part as it’s very easy to sit down and write something derogatory or critical about somebody from behind a screen.” 

Snoddy believes that a change in attitude from players and coaches could be something that has negatively affected how officials are perceived both in the professional game but also right down to grassroots. 

“Sometimes you would have to say role models don’t set the right examples, the pressure for success is obviously way beyond what it used to be, and people are using passion as an excuse for losing their composure. 

“From my side, referees are passionate as well. Referees want to referee the game efficiently but if a referee were to react with the same ‘passion’ against a coach in the technical area, there would be a worldwide reaction.”

In 2023, we’ve seen players such as Aleksander Mitrovic and Bruno Fernandes put their hands on officials, but Snoddy fears for the day when the roles are reversed. 

“People have only got so much patience and my fear is that one day, a referee will react in the same way the coaches and managers do. Of course, then there will be worldwide headlines.”

Unfortunately, shortly after speaking to Mr Snoddy, his fears became reality when Liverpool faced Arsenal at Anfield this season. 

After being frustrated throughout the first half, Liverpool left back Andy Robertson confronted assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis at half-time, who seemed to have raised an elbow to the face of Robertson as he was berated off the pitch.

Hatzidakis was initially stood down pending an investigation, with former Premier League referee Mark Halsey stating he should get a ban similar to that of Aleksander Mitrovic.

However, after concluding their investigation, the FA found no issues with Hatzidakis’ conduct and he returned to officiating, much to the delight of Snoddy.

“I think the outcome is fair, Andy Robertson was antagonising him when he was trying to exit the field of play. 

“It’s not a deliberate elbow, I believe it’s a swatting motion as if he’s waving Robertson away and he probably doesn’t realise quite how close he is. 

“I’m glad that common sense has prevailed, and it wasn’t made into a bigger issue.”

Snoddy’s fear for future referees is reflective of his nature, with the former official always seeking ways in which he can give back to the next generation of officials. 

This is perhaps one of the main reasons as to why he found himself being selected by UEFA to be a mentor for up-and-coming referees. 

“UEFA did the selection process, and they asked me to be one of the mentors and then you were allocated two referees for two years to work with and I was lucky enough to have another two years and another two referees working in this talent programme. 

“It’s not the top referees you’re mentoring; it’s the prospective top referees and the talents for the future. 

“One thing I really enjoyed and took a lot of satisfaction from was working with younger referees and seeing them develop. It was a very rewarding experience all round.”

While the process of being a mentor might have been rewarding, it’s always more special when someone succeeds under your stewardship and remembers you as a key part of their journey.

“The shining light in my time as a mentor was of course Milorad Madic from Serbia, who eventually ended up refereeing the 2018 Champions League Final. 

“We’re still good friends and we still have regular contact -that relationship started back in 2011. 

“He told me three or four years before the final that if and when he got a UEFA final, I would be coming as his guest.

“At the time I just laughed and said, ‘Milorad, come on, first of all, you need to get a final and secondly, this will cost a lot of money’ and I didn’t really take it all that seriously, but at the same time I was so happy that he had this target for himself. 

“It’s even more impressive because Serbia isn’t the biggest nation in Europe by any means. 

“But he stayed true to his word; everything was booked and paid for by him. 

“For me, this was a very emotional day. He’d put so much work in to getting to this stage and yes, of course he told me I played a part in it, but would he have got there without being in the talent programme? 

“Nobody ever knows.”

So, what makes a good referee?

Is it hard work, is it starting young or sometimes is it just a stroke of luck?

No matter how talented you might be as an official, without the hard work it’s easy to fall short. 

Not only was Snoddy a terrific referee, but he was clearly skilled when it came to reading people and offering them the correct advice.

In his early years as a mentor, Snoddy was faced with a difficult decision whilst observing one of Madic’s games - a story which may have shaped the referee’s career.

“Milorad was refereeing on the last match day in the tournament, and the match didn’t have any consequences, the tournament was already decided. 

“The match started to get a bit nervous, a little bit tetchy, and Milorad wasn’t really in control of it because he also was too relaxed. It was like the game wasn’t at a high-enough level for him. 

“I spotted this and was watching it, so then I had a decision to make and bearing in mind this was at the start of the relationship with him, but I decided now’s the time for a kick up the backside. 

“We had our normal post-match discussion, and I completed the report and the mark that we give the referees was not the greatest of marks, but I wanted to send him a message that every game is important.

“As his mentor I probably took a little bit of a chance, but I had to be honest with myself and honest with him. Let’s just say the report was satisfactory rather than very good, it didn’t kill him, but it sent a few clear messages that we want 100 per cent commitment in every game.

“Many years later when he got the appointment for the World Cup finals, he called me to tell me this had happened and so when I had the chance, I sent him the report from the mini tournament.

“I just said ‘Milorad, the journey started here’, and he called me back and he told me when he got the report, he didn’t sleep for two or three nights because he was so affected. That’s when I knew this had worked. 

“He’s such a dedicated, sensible, professional guy that he recognised he needed to work harder. 

“As a mentor sometimes the approach you need to take with people can be so important, the arm round the shoulder or the kick up the backside, which is it, or somewhere in between because people react in different ways.”

After dedicating his life to the beautiful game, as both a referee or mentor, it’s clear to see why the Belfast-born official was awarded an MBE for services to football back in 2020.

It’s great to see that in an age where officials are disrespected more than ever before, Snoddy’s dedication to the game and helping future referees hasn’t gone unnoticed.