Howard Webb hopes to help improve standards and show officials in a different light when he returns to English football later this year as the PGMOL’s first-ever chief refereeing officer.
The 51-year-old has been working in the United States and Canada for the past six years, having initially joined the Professional Referee Organisation as video review operations manager.
Webb went onto become PRO’s general manager in January 2018 – a role he will leave after overseeing the conclusion of the Major League Soccer season.
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The Yorkshireman has been confirmed in the newly-created role of chief referee officer at the Professional Game Match Officials Board, with his official start date to be confirmed in due course.
“I am looking forward to taking up the role of chief refereeing officer for the PGMOL once I’ve completed my contract here at the end of this season in Major League Soccer,” Webb told the PA news agency.
“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, working with the team that’s there.
“There’s a lot of investment going into refereeing in England through the Elite Referee Development Plan and my role is part of that, so exciting times.
“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.
“So 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.”
Webb has “learned so much” during his time working in North America and PGMOL manager director Mike Riley believes his return is a “major coup”.
Riley has led the organisation for 13 years and is stepping down this season, handing the baton over to the 51-year-old and the new chief operating officer later in the campaign.
Webb is looking forward to the new challenge in this “bigger goldish bowl” and believes his experiences will help him aid officials, which includes humanising them to the public.
“I’ve not been in England for several…
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