Uriah Rennie
 | |||
| Full name | Uriah D. Rennie | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
23 October 1959 Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England | ||
| Other occupation | Magistrate | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| ? -1994 | Northern Premier League | Referee | |
| 1994-1997 | Football League | Referee | |
| 1997-2009 | Premier League | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2000-2004 | FIFA listed | Referee | |
Uriah D. Rennie (born 23 October 1959[1] in Sheffield, England) is a retired top level English football referee.
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 2000, he became a FIFA referee.[3]
He dealt Alan Shearer his first red card in a Newcastle v Aston Villa match in 1999. The reason for the red card was "persistent use of the elbow"
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. Rennie did not show a red or yellow card at all during the match.[5]
At the end of 2004, he retired from the FIFA list, after reaching the compulsory age of 45.
Like many high-profile referees in top-flight football, Rennie has attracted criticism from within the game. In November 2006, he was mentioned in a remark by a stadium announcer, Adam Cattarall, at a Football League Championship match between Preston North End and Crystal Palace. It was announced over the public address system 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 19 December 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 21 August 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 24 November 2007, handling the Championship match between Scunthorpe United and Hull City, which finished as a 2-1 away win.[10]
Rennie was again struck by injury at the start of the 2008/2009 season. He failed to recover from this injury all season, and as a result was removed from the Select Group of referees, along with Steve Tanner and Keith Stroud in May 2009.
In September 2010, Rennie became president of Hallam FC which was celebrating its 150th anniversary season and still playing at the oldest football ground in the world, Sandygate Road in Sheffield
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 | 0.32 |
| 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 | 21 | 59 | 2.80 | 7 | 0.33 |
(There are no available records prior to 1997/1998)
Life outside football
He practises both kick-boxing and aikido, and has a Master's degree in business administration and law. He is also a magistrate in Sheffield.[11] He is married and has one daughter.[4] He appeared as himself in the BBC Two drama Marvellous, broadcast in September 2014.[12]
In August 2015, he became the referee in the ITV game show, Freeze Out, presented by Mark Durden-Smith.
References
- ↑ Birthdate confirmation: the Football League Official website. Retrieved on 10 March 2007.
- ↑ First ever Premiership match, soccerbase.com website. Retrieved 10 March 2007.
- ↑ Career, details: Premier League Official website. Retrieved 10 March 2007.
- 1 2 "Uriah Rennie's Red Card Blues". AYUP. Retrieved 20 January 2007.
- ↑ Old Division One Play-off Final, 2001, soccerbase.com website. Retrieved 10 March 2007.
- ↑ "Trouble over ref dig". BBC Sport. 27 November 2006. Retrieved 5 January 2007.
- ↑ "Southampton 2-1 Norwich". BBC Sport. 16 December 2006. Retrieved 17 December 2006.
- ↑ Failed fitness tests, report from August 2007: The Sun online. Retrieved on 29 September 2008.
- ↑ Confirmation of hamstring injury: Graham Poll, the Mail Online. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
- ↑ Return from injury, Scunthorpe v. Hull, 2007: BBC Sport report. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
- ↑ "Come on ref". PFA. 26 July 2004. Archived from the original on 20 October 2006. Retrieved 20 January 2007.
- ↑ BBC: Marvellous
External links
| Preceded by Neale Barry |
FA Trophy 2003 |
Succeeded by Mike Dean |