Once a respectable referee and now an executive, Howard Webb has fresh ideas. The Yorkshire policemen turned into a referee had an illustrious career as the man in black. He 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. And now he became the Premier League’s new head of refereeing and wants to recruit new employees – among ex players.Newly appointed chief refereeing officer and former Premier League referee Howard Webb hopes to get more players involved in officiating!🗣️⚽️@FA_PGMOL pic.twitter.com/QcG4sXrQ7v— Eurosport (@eurosport) December 23, 2022 The idea is quite brilliant actually. All those players who were whining to Webb over the years and complained about the quality of refereeing should try to get in their shoes now and try themselves in the new profession. Off course, Webb didn’t put it like that, and was professional and diplomatic. „We’ve got to look at how we can entice other people in. We’ve always struggled to get ex-players involved but I’m sure somebody out there will want to be a trailblazer. I don’t expect players who’ve been at the very highest level and have got other opportunities as well to come into it. But somebody who’s played a decent career and has got a good knowledge of the game … I think there’s an opportunity. We would welcome them wholeheartedly“ said the former active referee. Grand return of club football – Haaland feels alive again, Liverpool crash out of the EFL CupApart from ex-players, Webb is trying to lure the general population to apply and become the referee in England. He even explained the job, which sounded quite nice actually, on paper off course. “There are ups and downs, there are negatives but they are massively outweighed by the positives. Refereeing is a wonderful way to give back if you’re at a stage of life where that’s right for you. It’s a great way to stay fit or to gain fitness, it’s a great way to develop interpersonal skills. If you’re a younger person still developing your personality it’s a wonderful way to become more confident and doing that all the time knowing that there’s a possibility of a career down the track. A career is closer than it previously was, probably more lucrative than it used to be and more realistic because now we’ve got professional referees in both the Premier League and the Championship, and the assistant referees are also professional” said Webb. ##NAJAVA_MECA_6906012##
