Gerald Ashby

infobox football official
name = Gerald Ashby


fullname = Gerald R Ashby
dateofbirth = birth date|1949|11|06
cityofbirth = Worcestershire
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath = death date and age|2001|12|17|1949|11|06
cityofdeath = Worcestershire
countryofdeath = England
otheroccupation =
years = 1982-1985
1985-1992
1992-1998
league = Football League
Football League
Premier League
role = Asst. referee
Referee
Referee
internationalyears = 1992-1994
confederation = FIFA listed
internationalrole = Referee

Gerald R. Ashby (November 6, 1949 – December 17, 2001 [ [http://www.zerozero.eu/arbitro.php?id=1127 Dates of birth and death confirmed] : "zerozero.eu" website.] ) was an English former football referee, who operated in the Football League and the Premier League. He was an accountant by profession, and was based in Worcester.

Career

He became a Football League linesman in 1982, and three years later graduated to the referees' list at the age of thirty five.^† His breakthrough came when the retirement age for FIFA referees was reduced to forty five. This created five vacancies on the English allocation for the FIFA List in 1992, and he was one of the officials to be promoted. At the same time, he became a member of the new Premier League list.^‡

His first match in the new League was the 2-1 home victory by Leeds United over Wimbledon (now MK Dons) at Elland Road on August 15, 1992. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=299304 First ever Premier League match] : soccerbase.com website.]

He only had three years as an international referee before he also reached FIFA's retirement age at the end of 1994. However, he was able to carry on in English football, and on May 20, 1995, at Wembley, he took charge of the FA Cup Final between Everton and Manchester United. Everton won the match 1-0 via a headed goal by Paul Rideout. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=320145 1995 FA Cup Final] : soccerbase.com website.]

On March 24, 1997, during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Arsenal, Ashby awarded a penalty to the home side, despite there appearing to be no contact between Robbie Fowler and the Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman. Fowler was honest enough to admit that he had not been fouled, and pleaded with the official not to award the kick. However, Ashby ignored Fowler's appeal and insisted on awarding a penalty, and as a result Liverpool won the match 2-1. Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, was quoted as saying: "It was a great gesture by Fowler and I would like to give him an award for fair play. But if he got that I would also have to give the referee an award for stupidity." [ [http://www.givemefootball.com/display.cfm?article=11789&type=1&area=&page=1 "Robbie cries foul at Highbury"] : "GiveMeFootball.com" website.]

He remained on the Premier League list until his retirement just over a year later, his final match, on May 3, 1998, seeing champions Arsenal beat Everton 4-0 at Highbury. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=250893 Last ever match in 1998] : soccerbase.com website.] He then became a Premier League referees' assessor.

Gerald Ashby died of a heart attack in December 2001.^¶

References

Print

*^†Football League Handbooks, 1982-1984.
*^‡Rothmans Football Yearbooks, 1985-1998.
*90 Minutes magazine, late 1991 (details of birthdate and profession)
*^¶Rothmans Football Yearbook, 2002-2003, p54 (notice of death), p956 (obituary)

Internet

External links

* [http://www.soccerbase.com/refs2.sd?refid=119 Gerald Ashby Referee Statistics] at soccerbase.com