- Alan Wilkie
infobox football official
name = Alan Wilkie
fullname = Alan B Wilkie
dateofbirth = 1951
cityofbirth =Denton Burn ,Newcastle upon Tyne
countryofbirth =England
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
otheroccupation = previously:Telecommunication s electrical engineernow: Regional Refereeing Manager, The FA
years = 1981-19821982-19881985-19881988-19931993-2000
league = Northern LeagueNorthern LeagueFootball LeagueFootball LeaguePremier League
role = Asst. refereeRefereeReferee (supplementary)RefereeReferee
internationalyears = 1987-19931993-2000
confederation =UEFA listedUEFA listed
internationalrole = Asst. refereeRefereeAlan B. Wilkie (born in 1951 [http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=360075054 Biographical detail] : "ZoomInfo.com" profile.] ) is an English former football referee, who officiated in
the Football League and thePremier League , and forUEFA . He was born inDenton Burn ,Newcastle upon Tyne , but now lives inChester-le-Street ,County Durham . His other occupation during his refereeing career was as aTelecommunication s electrical engineer, and he now works forthe Football Association as a regional manager for referees inNorth East England . [ [http://www.thefa.com/GrassrootsNew/Referee/FAMOA/Postings/2006/06/12013 Regional Refereeing Manager (North East)] for the Football Association: TheFA.com Official website.]Career
Wilkie became a Class 3 referee in 1977, at the age of 26,† when a serious knee injury meant him having to give up playing football in local leagues. In 1981† he was selected as a linesman for the Northern League, [http://archive.thenorthernecho.co.uk/2002/11/15/114514.html More biographical detail] : article at "The Northern Echo" website.] and went on to referee in that league a year later. In 1984 he was appointed to the list of linesmen for
the Football League , then became a supplementary referee for that league in 1985. He was further promoted to the full Football League list in 1988. His first match after this promotion was in the oldFootball League Third Division onAugust 27 1988 , the game between Mansfield Town and Northampton Town, which finished 1-1.†In September 1987 he had been given duties as linesman for a
UEFA Cup match inDundee , and in 1991 was selected to run the line forKeith Hackett in the European Cupsemi-final first leg at theStade Vélodrome between Marseille and Spartak Moscow. This finished 3-1, with Marseille progressing to the Final after the second leg. Wilkie would step up to handle his first European game as referee in theAnglo-Italian Cup tie between Ancona and Charlton in November 1993.†He was included in the list of
Premier League referees towards the end of the 1992-93 season, handling his first game in that competition (and sending off his first Premiership player, the away side'sTony Cascarino ) onMarch 24 1993 , when Leeds United drew 1-1 at home to Chelsea atElland Road . [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=300767 First ever Premiership match] , Leeds v. Chelsea, 1993:soccerbase .com website.]He was notably the referee during the match between Crystal Palace and Manchester United at
Selhurst Park onJanuary 25 1995 , whenEric Cantona of United performed akung fu -style two-footed kick towards a group of spectators as he was leaving the field following his sending off for deliberately kicking Palace's Richard Shaw four minutes into the second half of the game. According toThe Guardian , the senior police officer at the match,Chief Superintendent Terry Collins, said Cantona would be "interviewed by police during the next 48 hours". He added: "I've never seen anything like it in my life...There could have been a riot." The Football Association told The Guardian: "It is our responsibility to ensure that actions that damage the game are punished severely. The FA will live up to that responsibility." [ [http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,1133071,00.html Cantona's kick] , Crystal Palace 1 Man United 1, 1995: article at theGuardian Unlimited website.] That they did, and Cantona received an eight-month ban from all football activities. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19960331/ai_n14039125 Mention of Cantona's punishment] : article atThe Independent website, via the "FindArticles" service.] However, referee Wilkie had no idea at all about what had gone on, as he was talking to United's Andy Cole at the time: "It was only in the dressing room that one of the assistants told me what he (Cantona) had done."At the end of that season, on
May 6 1995 , Wilkie found it necessary to report the entire Norwich City team, including its substitutes, after a "mass protest" following the award of a penalty to Leeds United in the 80th minute of a match which would determine whether City were relegated from the Premier League or not. If successful, the spot kick would mean that a draw was likely, not enough for Norwich to stay up. In the event, Leeds scored a second goal on 90 minutes to send the 'Canaries' down. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=222555 Leeds v. Norwich] , statistical details: soccerbase.com website.] Wilkie was quoted inThe Independent following the game. "All the Norwich team will be reported, I won't be isolating any one player," he said. "That would be impossible because they were all around me, even the reserve goalkeeper."Gary Megson , the Norwich manager at the time, said: "Leeds did not beat us today, the referee did." [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19950508/ai_n13981403 Mass protest by players and subs] , Norwich City at Leeds, 1995: article at The Independent website, via the "FindArticles" service.]On
February 27 2000 , Wilkie stepped out for what should have been the most prestigious domestic appointment of his career, theFootball League Cup Final between Leicester City and Tranmere Rovers at Wembley. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=276696 League Cup Final 2000] , statistical details: soccerbase.com website.] However, with just over an hour played, he suffered acalf muscle injury and had to be replaced by Phil Richards, thefourth official on that day. From that point, the two major decisions required of Richards and his assistant,Wendy Toms , were the disallowing of a goal for Tranmere in the 13th minute by David Kelly (a former Leicester player) due to offside, and the dismissal ofClint Hill of Tranmere in the 64th minute for a tackle from behind onEmile Heskey . The match finished 2-1 to Leicester. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/658945.stm League Cup Final 2000] , detailed match report:BBC News website.] [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20000228/ai_n14292506 League Cup Final 2000] , alternative match report: article at The Independent website, via the "FindArticles" service.]As well as being the first Premier League referee to handle 100 games in that competition, Wilkie took charge of 10 European games and a total of 456 League matches. [http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:9B871scpP8UJ:www.wrcfa.com/DEVELOPMENT/DEMOS/Demo%2520Promo%2520March%252007.2.doc+%22alan+wilkie%22+referee&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=15&gl=uk Career information] : from a "West Riding Coaches Association" promotional document (cached
HTML version).] He retired from refereeing in the year 2000 after his final Premiership match, the game between Manchester United and Spurs at Old Trafford onMay 6 2000 , when the home side won 3-1. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=282372 Last match before retiring] , Man United v. Spurs, 2000: soccerbase.com website.]Retirement
Since finishing as an on-field official, Wilkie has fulfilled the role of Regional Refereeing Manager for the North East of England, being employed by The Football Association. He also acts as a match delegate for the Football League and the Premier League, overseeing all aspects of the match and the venue he is appointed to.
In October 2003, he was part of a team conducting a "workshop for Senior Referees" in
Port of Spain , Trinidad & Tobago, on behalf ofCONCACAF (The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football), and in conjunction with the English FA. [ [http://www.concacaf.com/view_article.asp?id=2209 Workshop for Senior Referees] , Trinidad & Tobago, 2003:CONCACAF .com website.]Life outside football
Wilkie is married to Margaret, and has two sons. He is self-admittedly a Newcastle United fan, and his other hobbies and interests include music,
crossword s and driving. He worked for British Telecom as an electrical engineer for thirty years, combining that with refereeing, until taking up his present post with the FA.In 2002, Wilkie published his autobiography, "One Night at the Palace: A Referee's Story", co-written with George Miller. [ [http://www.football-books.com/wilkie.html "One Night at the Palace: A Referee's Story"] : Alan Wilkie, written with George Miller, Parrs Wood Press 2002. ISBN 1-903158-35-4: "Football-Books.com" website.]
References
Print
*†One Night at the Palace: A Referee's Story, Alan Wilkie & George Miller, Parrs Wood Press 2002, ISBN 1-903158-35-4
Internet
External links
* [http://www.soccerbase.com/refs2.sd?refid=181 Alan Wilkie Referee Statistics] at
soccerbase .com (incomplete)
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1337202,00.html The Cantona Incident] - "The reaction", interviews by Jamie Jackson ofThe Observer newspaper
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.