Uriah Rennie
 | |||
| Full name | Uriah D Rennie | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Other occupation | Magistrate | ||
Uriah D. Rennie (born 23 October 1959[1] in Sheffield, South Yorkshire) is an English football referee officiating in the FA Premier League and other competitions.
Career
He began refereeing in 1979 in local leagues, then operated in the Northern Premier League until 1994, at which time he was appointed to the Football League List of referees.
He was given his first Premiership appointment on 23 August 1997, controlling the 2-0 away win by Crystal Palace at Leeds United, goals being scored by Paul Warhurst and Attilio Lombardo.[2]
In the year 2000, he became a FIFA referee.[3]
Rennie made footballing history as the first black referee to officiate in the top tier of English football. In 2001, he joined the Select Group of professional referees. Keith Hackett, head of the Professional Game Match Officials Board has described him as "the fittest referee we have ever seen on the national and world scene."[4]
He refereed the 2001 (old) Football League Division One Play-off Final between Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, when Bolton won 3-0 with goals from Farrelly, Ricketts and Gardner. Uriah did not show a red or yellow card at all during the match.[5]
At the end of the 2004-05 season, he retired from the FIFA list, at the compulsory age of 45.
Like many high-profile referees in top-flight football, Rennie has attracted criticism from within the game. In November 2005, he was mentioned in a remark by a stadium announcer at a Football League Championship match between Preston North End and Crystal Palace. It was announced over the tannoy as the teams came back onto the pitch after half time: "Welcome to the second half of the Uriah Rennie show".[6] His refereeing came under criticism yet again on December 16 2006 after Southampton's 2-0 victory over Norwich, with Canaries' manager Peter Grant claiming: "It's scandalous the way he talks to players. He shows them no respect, and yet expects respect back. With this referee it's all about him. People come to watch the players and be entertained, not to watch the referee."[7]
On August 21 2007, The Sun newspaper announced that Rennie had been withdrawn from the list of referees after failing the prescribed fitness tests and that he would not referee again until he passed one. These tests are re-taken after one month.[8]
However, his failure of the tests actually turned out to be due to a hamstring injury.[9] He made his return to active refereeing on November 24 2007, handling the Championship match between Scunthorpe United and Hull City, which finished as a 2-1 away win.[10]
Career statistics
| Season | Games | Total  |
per game |
Total  |
per game
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997/1998 | 27 | 102 | 3.78 | 10 | 0.37 |
| 1998/1999 | 27 | 117 | 4.34 | 7 | 0.26 |
| 1999/2000 | 28 | 96 | 3.43 | 10 | 0.36 |
| 2000/2001 | 39 | 82 | 2.10 | 8 | 0.21 |
| 2001/2002 | 34 | 86 | 2.52 | 5 | 0.15 |
| 2002/2003 | 31 | 82 | 2.65 | 10 | 3.29 |
| 2003/2004 | 24 | 79 | 3.29 | 1 | 0.04 |
| 2004/2005 | 31 | 64 | 2.06 | 2 | 0.06 |
| 2005/2006 | 44 | 94 | 2.14 | 5 | 0.11 |
| 2006/2007 | 39 | 123 | 3.15 | 5 | 0.13 |
| 2007/2008 | 7 | 17 | 2.43 | 2 | 0.29 |
Statistics before 1997 are unavailable.
Life outside football
He practices both kick-boxing and aikido, and has a Master's degree in Business Administration and Law. He also works as a magistrate in Sheffield. [11] He is married with one daughter. [4]
References
- ^ Birthdate confirmation: the Football League Official website. Retrieved March 10 2007.
- ^ First ever Premiership match, soccerbase.com website. Retrieved on March 10 2007.
- ^ Career, details: Premier League Official website. Retrieved March 10 2007.
- ^ a b "Uriah Rennie's Red Card Blues". AYUP. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
- ^ Old Division One Play-off Final, 2001, soccerbase.com website. Retrieved March 10 2007.
- ^ "Trouble over ref dig". BBC Sport. 2006-11-27. Retrieved 2007-01-05.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Southampton 2-1 Norwich". BBC Sport. 2006-12-16. Retrieved 2006-12-17.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Failed fitness tests, report from August 2007: The Sun online. Retrieved on August 24 2007.
- ^ Confirmation of hamstring injury: Graham Poll, the Mail Online. Retrieved on November 25 2007.
- ^ Return from injury, Scunthorpe v. Hull, 2007: BBC Sport report. Retrieved on November 25 2007.
- ^ "Come on ref". PFA. 2004-07-26. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)