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Uriah Rennie's Red Card Blues

Over the last few seasons, the most visible Yorkshireman on the nation's football pitches wasn't a player. He was a referee. But in 2001 Sheffield's Uriah Rennie found himself relegated back to the Nationwide League after three glorious seasons in the top flight. Ayup gets booked for dissent....

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The buzz started at the 1997 Division Two Playoff at Wembley Stadium. Brentford and Crewe were battling for the promotion prize. The show was stolen by the man in black, who gave Brentford's Brian Statham the dubious honour of being only the twelfth ever to receive a red card at Wembley. If there were any doubts that Uriah Rennie might not be able to handle the pressures of his new Premiership refereeing status they were dispelled then and there. Promotion was assured.

What followed was nothing short a revolution within the closed world of football refereeing. Rennie's fitness alone made him stand out from the fat old granddads barely able to blow a whistle. Uriah, 6ft 2ins and 16 stone, was a kick-boxer and Aikido expert and in better shape than all the prima-donnas he was keeping in check.

Former Referee and mentor Keith Hackett wrote "Position sells decisions and Uri, who is clearly the fittest referee we have ever seen on the national and world scene, is always bang up with play. When he blows up and players turn round ready for an argument they realize he is on the spot and that settles it." Even bad-sport loudmouths with European Championship medallions thought twice before getting lippy.

He was forced to abandon one of his first premiership outings (a Derby / Wimbledon floodlight blowout) but quickly went on to establish a formidable reputation on and off the pitch. When his name was mentioned before matches there was always a buzz of anticipation. By common consent his first season at the top was quite brilliant. Frequently the buzz was justified as Newcastle striker Alan Shearer found out on the opening day of the 99/00 season. Rennie's double yellow whammy on the England captain, rattling super-cool Ruud Gullit in the process, was priceless.

Soon though he was making powerful enemies - not only amongst frustrated footie bosses, but amongst the tabloid sports hacks who began to call his pre-match warm up sessions "showboating" and leapt on one of his earlier quotes to the press as proof of his arrogance. "I am an ambitious man and I want to be seen on the world stage. I still regard football as a hobby, but its a hobby that I take very seriously" he had said.

Back at the Sheffield Leisure centre he manages, word is that he's a relaxed and informal man. He has a wife, Roseanne and a five year old daughter called Crystal. He's well known in Sheffield for his work as a magistrate. He is very much aware of his responsibility as a role model for youngsters setting out on the refereeing ladder and to members of the UK's Afro-Caribbean community.

Fellow ref Keith Hackett also draws attention to his ability to communicate with players. "Most people wouldn't notice, but throughout a match he is maintaining contact with players with a few words as he runs past them. This is important because it underlines that they should all be working together to keep the game flowing smoothly."

"You want to deal with difficult decisions because you want to demonstrate that you are good at your job. Therefore all those pressurised issues are welcomed. No-one ever thinks 'I don't want this to happen or that to happen' because you want to deal with every situation possible".

Rennie himself talked about the pressure of top level refereeing recently in an article published in Four-Four-Two magazine. He said "There's really is no pressure on a referee. Knowing you can't provide for the family or put food on the table is pressure. To go to Old Trafford or Highbury and referee games is not pressure. That's an honour. If you put pressure on yourself you can't referee with confidence, so you have to shut the pressure out.

Last year Rennie, along with Hillsborough fall-guy Paul Alcock, found out he was dropped from the so-called Premiership list from a newspaper article. The back page assassins had themselves a field day. Some said that it was just desserts because of his pre-match hick kicking antics and his boot deal with FILA. Others pointed to a self publicising website (which we haven't found yet - if it ever existed outside a journalist's imagination) and his use of an agent to deal with the press. Fellow referees were apparently saying that his high profile could "threaten unity and strength of purpose".

The suits down at the FAHQ suddenly decided that he just wasn't up to scratch after all, and leaked the decision to the papers before telling him in person. To deprive us of football's best official without explanation has left the Football Association looking pretty shameful. Meanwhile the likes of Mike Reid and Jeff Winter are still huffing and puffing around Anfield and Elland Road and it's back to business as usual.

The killing joke is that the FA officials failed to notify FIFA of their decision. A year ago Rennie was elevated to FIFA's International elite list. The assumption was that when he was dropped by the Premiership then his international career would end too. Not so. FIFA said they were unaware of his fall from grace and put him in charge of October's France / Austria European Under 21 match in Brest. In the meantime Uri is strutting his stuff on the country's Nationwide and Conference pitches and has taken charge of some of passionate encounters like Blackburn v Fulham and Preston v Bolton. In this season's Coca Cola Cup he even came face to face with Alan Shearer once again when Newcastle joined the competition.

The consensus here at Ayup is that Uriah Rennie needs to be put back at the top level to continue the revolution he started. The days of old-bloke Keystone Cop refs running three weeks behind the game have got to stop. We need some real knowledge and authority at top level, if only to knock the maungy millionaire Fancy Dans and haughty school master blackshirts down a peg or two. Besides - when all our local stars are Aussies, Croats, Irish and Italianos it's great to have a genuine hero running the show. Uri we miss thi!

_______________Northerner

UPDATE -JUNE 2001

He's back! The powers that be have finally relented on the subject of professional referees and Uriah Rennie has made the cut. It's still unclear if this means we'll see the man on Premiership pitches this coming season, however it's a clear sign that he's back on track. All the "Select Group" will be on around £33,000 a year with a cool match fee of close to a grand. Referees' manager Philip Don was quoted by the Beeb - : "These new arrangements for our leading match officials have been designed to continue to improve the standard of refereeing, which is a priority for everyone. It will also enhance the status and standing of referees within the professional game both at home and abroad."

The list includes all the familier names, like David Elleray, Paul Durkin, Geoff Barber and the rest, and also includes a couple of local boys - Messias and Riley. However, there's one name missing from the list, and we feel another article coming on. Barnsley lad Steve Lodge is not on the list! Has he retired without telling us? Has he made a stand for amateur status? Watch this space...