International Referee Touches Down In Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire FA is today (2nd April) delighted to announce that FIFA International Assistant Referee Phil Sharp has joined the team as the new County Referee Development Officer.

Phil will join the team officially on Monday 21st April and be based at The County Ground in Letchworth with the responsibility of developing, recruiting and retaining referees for the local game to help The FA achieve their target of having a qualified official on every game.

Phil is still an active referee himself having started his career in 1980 refereeing on the Hertfordshire County League and is currently a Premier League assistant and also on the FIFA List of International Assistant Referee's and has been since 1997.

During this time he has been part of some fantastic football moments including the FA Cup Final in 1999 between Manchester United and Newcastle United along with the Olympic Football Tournament in Athens (2004), assisting in the final between Argentina and Paraguay. One of Phil's greatest achievements is assisting Pierluigi Collina at the World Cup Final in Japan (2002) which saw Brazil defeat Germany.

As a Referee Development Officer, Phil will be heavily involved in the planning and delivery of Hertfordshire FA's new 4 Year Football Strategy that will achieve Hertfordshire's priorities for football as part of The FA's £200m National Game Strategy investment into the game to help improve and create football opportunities for the whole County.

You can contact Phil from Monday 21st April at the office on 01462 677 622