- Eddie Wolstenholme
infobox football official
name = Eddie Wolstenholme
| fullname = Edward K Wolstenholme
dateofbirth = c. 1954
cityofbirth =Preston ,Lancashire
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
otheroccupation =Engineering fitter
years = ? - ? ? -1992 ? -19921992-20012001-2003
league = West Lancashire LeagueNorth West Counties LeagueFootball LeagueFootball LeaguePremier League
role = RefereeRefereeAsst. refereeRefereeReferee
internationalyears = 2002-2003
confederation =FIFA / FA approved
internationalrole =Fourth official Edward K. Wolstenholme [http://www.soccerbase.com/refs2.sd?refid=184 Confirming his middle initial] (K):
soccerbase .com website.] (born c. 1954, Fact|date=December 2007Preston ,Lancashire [ [http://archive.asianimage.co.uk/1996/3/2/858028.html Place of birth] (Preston): from an article in theLancashire Evening Telegraph . Retrieved on February 6, 2008.] ) is an English former football referee who officiated inthe Football League and thePremier League . He now lives inBlackburn ,Lancashire , and may be remembered as the referee in charge of a football match in 2002 described as the "Battle of Bramall Lane ". [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/1872847.stm "Battle of Bramall Lane"] , Sheffield Utd v. West Brom, 2002: match report at theBBC Sport website.] His other occupation before becoming a professional forPGMOL in 2001 was as anengineering fitter. [http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2001/7/10/668733.html Other occupation] , also details of promotion to the Premier League: article at the "ThisIsLancashire.co.uk" website.]Career
Wolstenholme took up refereeing in 1978, [http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/Refereeing/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2002/11/32277.htm First year as a referee] (1978): interview at
the Football Association Official website.] when an injury forced him to give up playing non-League football (for Bamber Bridge, known as Walton-le-Dale F.C. at the time). After starting off in Sunday leagues, he then officiated in theWest Lancashire Football League , eventually moving up to the North West Counties League, and in season 1992-93the Football League list, after having gained experience as a League linesman. His first match after being promoted was the 4-2 win by Crewe over Torquay [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=232560 Crewe v. Torquay] , first match as a League referee, 1992: soccerbase.com website.] in the old Second Division on August 15, 1992. [http://archive.burytimes.co.uk/1997/11/1/815144.html Biographical detail] : article at the "Bury Times" website.]At the close of the 1997-98 season, he was selected not only to referee the old First Division
play-off semi-final second leg, but the Final itself. The semi-final second leg occurred on May 13, 1998, between Charlton Athletic and Ipswich Town at The Valley, and Charlton progressed by winning this 1-0 for a 2-0aggregate score . [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=303986 Charlton v. Ipswich] , old First Division play-off semi-final 2nd leg, 1998: soccerbase.com website.] The Final took place at Wembley on May 25, 1998, and Charlton's opponents were Sunderland. The score being 3-3 at the end of 90 minutes,extra time was played, and a further one goal each was converted during that period. This meant that a penalty shoot-out was necessary, and Charlton gained a 7-6 "sudden death" triumph to secure their place in thePremier League for the 1998-99 season. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=303989 Charlton v. Sunderland] , old First Division play-off final, 1998: soccerbase.com website.]The end of the 2000-01 season was very busy for Wolstenholme. He was first appointed to oversee the
FA Vase Final on May 6, 2001 atVilla Park ,Birmingham , played between Berkhamsted Town and Taunton Town, when theSomerset side won 2-1. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=355648 FA Vase Final] , Berkhamsted v. Taunton, 2001: soccerbase.com website.] Then, on May 13, 2001, he took charge of the League Two play-off semi-final first leg between Hull City and Leyton Orient, which finished 1-0. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=307537 League Two play-off semi-final first leg] , Hull v. Orient, 2001: soccerbase.com website.]The following day, he controlled the 4-2 home win by Walsall over Stoke in a League One play-off semi-final second leg, which was also the cumulative score that secured Walsall's progression. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=307281 League One play-off semi-final second leg] , Walsall v. Stoke, 2001: soccerbase.com website.] Lastly, he was given the honour of refereeing the League One play-off final as well, played at the
Millennium Stadium ,Cardiff , on May 27, 2001, when Walsall won promotion to the Championship by beating Reading by 3 goals to 2. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=308239 League One play-off final] , Reading v. Walsall, 2001: soccerbase.com website.]He was offered full professional terms by the
Professional Game Match Officials Board during the following close season in 2001, and agreed to join the Select Group of referees (officiating in the Premier League), although this would only be for a maximum of two seasons before his retirement due to age restrictions. He took charge of his first everPremier League match during the fixture involving Ipswich Town and Derby County atPortman Road on August 21, 2001, the home club winning 3-1. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=317270 First ever Premiership match] , Ipswich v. Derby, 2001: soccerbase.com website.]In 2002, Wolstenholme was involved in a match full of controversy, which did not last the 90 minutes, but which remains in the records. Sheffield United played West Bromwich Albion at their home ground,
Bramall Lane , in the oldFootball League First Division on March 16, 2002. He dismissed three players during the course of the game, all from Sheffield United. First to go was the goalkeeper,Simon Tracey , after 9 minutes for a handball outside the penalty area (an incident totally unrelated to the chaos that would ensue in the second half). Then, afterGeorges Santos crashed into Albion's Andy Johnson on 65 minutes, he was also sent off. A minute later,Patrick Suffo was dismissed after a head-to-head confrontation withDerek McInnes . When two other players then had to be withdrawn injured after 77 minutes (coincidentally, immediately after West Brom scored their third goal), and with no replacements available, Wolstenholme had to abandon the game due to United having less than 7 players left on the field. Amongst other sanctions taken by the Football Association, Sheffield United were fined £10,000 and their managerNeil Warnock £300. Santos (given a two-match ban) and Suffo (fined £3,000) never played for United again. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sheff_utd/1965063.stm FA Disciplinary measures] after the "Battle of Bramall Lane": BBC Sport website.] The score at the time of the abandonment was 0-3, and the result was allowed to stand despite the game not being completed. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=357755 Sheff Utd 0 West Brom 3] , the score at the end of the "Battle", was allowed to stand: soccerbase.com website.] The match was subsequently popularised with the title "theBattle of Bramall Lane ".In the final minute of the Everton versus Chelsea match at
Goodison Park on December 7, 2002, and with the score 3-1 to the away side, he sent offDavid Unsworth of Everton [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=379369 Unsworth dismissal] and match details, Everton v. Chelsea, 2002: soccerbase.com website.] for "violent conduct" (using his knee) after an incident involving Chelsea's Danish winger,Jesper Grønkjær . After the match was over, Everton managerDavid Moyes had to be dissuaded from confronting Wolstenholme in his dressing room by five police officers. The referee would only say: "Striking an opponent is a red-card offence and it doesn't matter what you strike him with. Things will have to go through the proper channels now and I'll probably look at it again." [ [http://football.guardian.co.uk/Match_Report/0,,-40699,00.html Everton v. Chelsea, 2002] - Moyes' reaction after Unsworth was sent off: match report at theGuardian Unlimited website.] Despite this, the red card was eventually confirmed, although Everton did manage to prevent Wolstenholme from being involved during their match against Bolton 21 days later,Matt Messias replacing him asfourth official . [ [http://football.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9753,865705,00.html Matt Messias] subsequently replaces Wolstenholme as 4th official for Everton v. Bolton game on 28 December: from match previews at the Guardian Unlimited website.]On February 12, 2003, he was fourth official during the 3-1 home defeat for England against Australia in a friendly match at Upton Park, London. This was the most notable appointment throughout his sparse international involvement. [ [http://www.englandfootballonline.com/Seas2000-10/2002-03/M0799Aus2003.html Fourth official] , England v. Australia, 2003: "EnglandFootballOnline" website.]
After the 2-0 home win by Millwall over Coventry in the
Football League Championship on May 5, 2003, [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=389456 Last ever match] , Millwall v. Coventry, 2003: soccerbase.com website.] Wolstenholme retired from refereeing, having officiated for only two seasons in the Premiership.Retirement and family life
Wolstenholme carried out the trade of engineering fitter in
Preston ,Lancashire , before briefly becoming a full-time paid referee from 2001 until his retirement in 2003. He has since become Referees' Officer for theLancashire County Football Association . [ [http://www.lancashirefa.com/AboutUs/Contacts/ Referees' Officer] for the Lancashire FA: LCFA website.] He still lives in the Pleckgate area of Blackburn, with his wife, Fiona, and they have two children, a son and a daughter.References
External links
* [http://www.soccerbase.com/refs2.sd?refid=184 Eddie Wolstenholme Referee Statistics] at
soccerbase .com (from 1997 only)
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