Howard Webb appointed as PGMOL’s first-ever chief refereeing officer

Howard Webb will return to English football later this year as the Professional Game Match Officials Board’s first chief refereeing officer.

The former referee was confirmed in the newly-created role on Wednesday, with an official start date to be confirmed in due course. “PGMOL is pleased to confirm that Howard Webb will take up the role of Chief Refereeing Officer in the coming months,” PGMOL tweeted.

The 51-year-old has been working in the United States and Canada for the past six years, having initially joined North America’s Professional Referee Organization as video review operations manager. Webb went on to become PRO’s general manager in January 2018 – a role he will leave after overseeing the rest of the Major League Soccer season.“I am looking forward to taking up the role of chief refereeing officer for PGMOL once I’ve completed my contract here at the end of this season in MLS,” Webb said. “Great to be going home to a place I obviously know well and worked on the field for many years, and looking forward to being a part of it.

“I will be managing the refereeing in the Premier League and the Football League, all the leagues that the PGMOL serves, ultimately looking to improve the standard of officiating [and] working with the team that’s there,” Webb added.“Of course the game doesn’t get any easier. The playing standards get higher and the referees are expected to be better and better year on year wherever you are in the world and for sure in England, where there’s so much scrutiny and attention.

“To be working in that kind of pressure environment for us, for people like me, is great and I am looking forward to being part of that. There’s a lot of investment going into refereeing in England through the Elite