Mark Halsey

Mark R. Halsey(born 8 July 1961)is an English retired professionalfootballrefereewho was born inWelwyn Garden City,Hertfordshire,later based inBolton,Greater Manchester.Halsey primarily refereed in thePremier Leaguefrom 1999 to 2013 and was on the league's list ofSelect Group Refereesfrom its creation in 2001 until his retirement.

Mark Halsey

Born	(1961-07-08)8 July 1961 Welwyn Garden City,Hertfordshire,England
Domestic
Years	League	Role
Mid-1990s – 1999	The Football League	Referee
1999–2013	Premier League	Referee
International
Years	League	Role
2000–2006	FIFA listed	Referee

His first Premier League appointment was a fixture betweenWimbledonandCoventry Cityin August 1999 and over the course of his professional career he refereed a number of notable matches, including theFA Community Shieldin 2007 and the 2008 final of theFootball League Cup.

In 2009 Halsey underwentchemotherapyto treat a cancerous tumour in his throat. He returned to refereeing in the top-flight in 2010. He announced his retirement at the end of the2012–13 season.

Career

Early career

Halsey spent 12 years playing non-League football as agoalkeeperwith teams such asCambridge CityandHertford Townbefore he started refereeing in 1989. In December 1984 he played one game forBarnetbefore joiningSt Albans City.

Halsey was a National List referee forthe Football Leaguefrom the mid-1990s until 1999.He refereed the 1999Second Divisionplay-offfinal betweenGillinghamandManchester CityatWembley Stadium,which City won 3–1 onpenalties(the match having finishing 2–2 afterextra time).

Select Group and FIFA lists

In 1999 Halsey was promoted to become aPremier Leaguereferee, his first appointment being a 1–1 draw in August of that year betweenWimbledonandCoventry City.

In 2000, Halsey was added to theFIFAlist of referees, officiating in theToulon Tournamentof that year. In 2001, he was a referee for the football tournament at theWorld Student Gamesin Beijing and in 2002 at the FIFA World Disabled Championships, held in Japan.

Also in 2002, he was appointed asfourth officialtoMike Rileyfor theFA Cup finalat theMillennium Stadium,whereArsenaldefeatedChelsea2–0.

Halsey's first major FIFA appointment came in 2004 when he refereed afriendly matchbetweenBelgiumandFrancein Brussels.

In August 2007 Halsey took charge of theFA Community Shieldmatch betweenManchester UnitedandChelseaatWembley Stadium.After the game finished 1–1 after extra-time, the Premier League title holders United defeated FA Cup holders Chelsea 3–0 on penalties.

In 2008 Halsey was appointed to referee theLeague Cup finalbetweenTottenham Hotspurand Chelsea.

Cancer treatment and return to refereeing

In August 2009 Halsey announced he had been diagnosed with anon-Hodgkin lymphomaand had undergone surgery to remove a cancerous tumour in his throat. The news came months after Halsey's wife was diagnosed withleukaemia;she will require drugs courses for the rest of her life to treat the disease. Halsey relinquished his refereeing duties during his treatment, which included fortnightlychemotherapyand courses of radiation.

In March 2010 Halsey passed a referees' fitness test. His first game back after his treatment wasLeicester City's reserves team versusScunthorpe United's reserves. He was due to referee aLeague Twomatch betweenAccrington StanleyandBarneton 30 March 2010, however it was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch. He returned to oversee another League Two fixture, betweenRotherham UnitedandPort Vale,a few days later.On 9 August 2010, following his officiating of a friendly at Everton,it was confirmed that Halsey was to return to the Premier League starting with the opening-day fixture, five days later, betweenWigan AthleticandBlackpool.

Later years and retirement

In September 2012, Halsey made a formal complaint to the police after two abusive messages were posted to him onTwitterthat referred to his treatment for cancer. The messages were sent following a fixture betweenLiverpoolandManchester Unitedin which Halsey sent-off Liverpool'sJonjo Shelveyand awarded United a latepenalty kickto win the match 2–1. A man from Liverpool was ultimately cautioned by police over the messages.

Halsey announced his retirement from refereeing at the end of the2012–13 season;his final game was a Premier League fixture betweenManchester CityversusNorwich Cityon 19 May 2013, which finished 3–2 to visitors Norwich. The crowd at the game gave Halsey what he described as a "great reception" and added that he hoped his comeback after his illness had been an "inspiration" to other cancer sufferers.

He subsequently joined the pundit crew onBT Sport's television coverage to provide analysis of refereeing decisions during Premier League matches and now writes a regular column forcaughtoffside.Mark is a QPR supporter and as such did not officiate QPR matches. He stated on the Under The Cosh podcast that he had in fact officiated two QPR games, before the rules were changed.

Statistics

Season	Games	Total	per game	Total	per game
1997–98	42	161	3.83	5	0.11
1998–99	46	111	2.41	2	0.04
1999–2000	38	96	2.52	8	0.21
2000–01	33	101	3.06	10	0.30
2001–02	37	118	3.18	7	0.18
2002–03	34	75	2.20	6	0.17
2003–04	41	81	1.97	5	0.12
2004–05	32	60	1.87	2	0.06
2005–06	38	54	1.42	6	0.15
2006–07	42	103	2.45	9	0.21
2007–08	41	86	2.09	5	0.12
2008–09	44	73	1.65	3	0.06
2009–10	6	8	1.33	0	0.00
2010–11	34	68	2.00	1	0.03
2011–12	33	75	2.27	0	0.00
2012–13	30	62	2.07	3	0.10

Statistics are for all competitions. There are no available records prior to 1997–98.

See also

• List of football referees

External links

• Profileat Refworld
• Profile^[usurped]at RateTheRef.net
• Statisticsatsoccerbase
• Three-way interview,along withDermot GallagherandMark Clattenburg,atFourFourTwo