Uriah Rennie
 Rennie in 2007 | |||
| Full name | Uriah Duddley Rennie | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
23 October 1959 Jamaica | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| –1994 | Northern Premier League | Referee | |
| 1994–1997 | Football League | Referee | |
| 1997–2008 | Premier League | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2000–2004 | FIFA listed | Referee | |
Uriah Duddley Rennie (born 23 October 1959) is an English former football referee. He was the first black referee to officiate in games of the Premier League.[1]
Early life
[edit]Uriah Duddley Rennie[2] was born on 23 October 1959[3] in Jamaica, and moved to Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire in England at the age of six.[4]
Career
[edit]Rennie 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, a game between Leeds United and Crystal Palace at Elland Road.[5] Rennie became a FIFA referee in 2000,[6] and joined the Select Group of professional referees the following year. 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."[7] At the end of 2004, he retired from the FIFA list, after reaching the compulsory age of 45 but made a return to active refereeing in November 2007.[8] In September 2010, Rennie became president of Hallam FC which was celebrating its 150th anniversary season.
Life outside football
[edit]Rennie 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.[9] He is married and has one daughter and a son.[7] He appeared as himself in the BBC Two drama Marvellous, broadcast in September 2014.[10]
In August 2015, he became the referee in the ITV game show, Freeze Out, presented by Mark Durden-Smith.[11]
In November 2023, he was awarded an honorary doctorate at Sheffield Hallam University for his work in the community of Sheffield, namely Sheffield Federation for School Sports and Weston Park Hospital.[citation needed]In the same month he was also named as the new chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University to be officially installed in early 2025[12].
References
[edit]- ^ Jon Ungoed-Thomas (20 November 2021). "Elite football in England has 40 referees – all white. Why don't black officials get top jobs?". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
- ^ "Nederland O19 1–1 Noorwegen O19" [Netherlands U19 1–1 Norway U19] (in Dutch). Royal Dutch Football Association. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
- ^ "Referee Profiles". The Football League. Archived from the original on 17 April 2008.
- ^ "Football: Coppell heaps praise on Uriah". The Independent. London. 24 August 1997. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
- ^ First ever Premiership match, soccerbase.com website. Retrieved 10 March 2007.
- ^ Career, details: Premier League Official website. Retrieved 10 March 2007.
- ^ a b "Uriah Rennie's Red Card Blues". AYUP. Archived from the original on 24 January 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2007.
- ^ "Argyle Get Top Ref for Saints Game". 15 January 2008.
- ^ "Come on ref". PFA. 26 July 2004. Archived from the original on 20 October 2006. Retrieved 20 January 2007.
- ^ BBC: Marvellous
- ^ "On thin ice: is Freeze Out the most ludicrous game show ever?". The Guardian. London. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
- ^ "Premier League trailblazer and community champion set to become university Chancellor". shu.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
External links
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