Rob Harris (referee)

Robert J. Harris (born c. 1957) is an English former football referee who operated in the Football League and Premier League. During his refereeing career he was mainly based in the county town of Oxford.

Career

He became a Football League linesman in 1988. He made progress and in 1992 he became one of the first ever FIFA assistant referees. A few months later he assisted Philip Don in the FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Sunderland. He was one of the first assistants for the new Premier League when that started a few months later.

Two years later came further honours. In May he was appointed to assist Philip Don once more, this time in the 1994 European Cup Final between AC Milan and Barcelona. [ [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/history/season=1993/intro.html AC Milan v. Barcelona] , 1994 European Cup Final: report from UEFA.com website.] This is the only time since 1971 that English officials have controlled the Final.fact|date=October 2007 He was also appointed to the National Referees List for the following season (1994-95).

Over the next four seasons he established himself in the Football League. He took charge of a greater number of games, including play-off matches, and in 1998 he was promoted to the Premier League referees List.

Harris served as a Premier referee for three seasons but two incidents marred this period. In May 1999 he sent off three West Ham players as they lost heavily at home to Leeds United. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=258730 West Ham v. Leeds, May 1999] : soccerbase.com website.] David Elleray was fourth official. After the game Harris narrowly escaped being attacked by home supporters as he waited in his car at traffic lights.^† This led to a new policy by the Premier League where all officials are transported to games by people-carrier, to reduce the risk of such an event.

In January 2000 he sent off Clint Hill of Tranmere near the end of their home FA Cup tie with Sunderland. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=272592 Tranmere v. Sunderland FA Cup tie, 2000] : soccerbase.com website.] As Hill was leaving the field Tranmere made a substitution but in the confusion no player was actually withdrawn. None of the officials noticed this, and the home team continued to play with eleven men rather than ten in the final minutes. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/fa_cup/595476.stm "Row mars Tranmere giantkilling"] as they continue with 11 men after sending-off: report from BBC.co.uk website.] This error of Law is treated very seriously, and as a result Harris was suspended and did not officiate again for another two months.^‡

He did carry on at Premier level for the next season, after which he stepped down to the Football League as from the 2001-02 campaign. This coincided with his moving from Oxford to the Isle of Wight, making him the only League referee ever from this location.^¶ However, he served only one more year before retiring early in 2002.

References

Print

*Football League Handbooks, 1988-1993
*Rothmans Football Yearbooks, 1994-2002 (^‡2000 edition, p21)
*^†David Elleray (2004) The Man In the Middle, Time Warner, p202-204
*^¶Gilbert Upton (2005) Football League and Premiership Referees 1888 to 2005, Soccerdata

Internet

External links

* [http://www.soccerbase.com/refs2.sd?refid=148 Rob Harris Referee Statistics] at soccerbase.com