Howard Webb Retires, Cue Lots Of Jokes About Man Utd Again

Just a year after the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, Howard Webb - the nation's favourite Manchester United punch-line - has announced his retirement from refereeing. The decision will come as a surprise to some, considering he is but 43 years old, but his move is very much an upwards one, as he will take up the role of Technical Director of Professional Game Match Officials Limited, overseeing the technical direction and standards that govern the on-field performance of PGMOL€™s match officials. He wil also be in charge of their training programme and coaching system, and will open more avenues for qualified referees to make it to the top of the game in his footsteps. He will link up in his new role with former Premier League referee Mike Riley, who is General Manager of PGMOL and will very much be the public-face of refereeing, which some might suggest has been his agenda for a long time anyway.

"I am very excited to start this new chapter in my career after a wonderfully rewarding 25 years on the pitch," Webb said. "I have spent over a decade with the best seat in the house for Barclays Premier League matches, been lucky enough to be involved in nine UEFA and FIFA tournaments, and taken charge of the UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup finals.

"Refereeing has given me so much and it€™s important that match officials who have had the rewards remain in the game to pass on their knowledge. I also have much more to learn about the business of refereeing and the best place for me to do that is with PGMOL. It€™s an incredibly positive working environment and we all have a common goal of improving refereeing.

"Over the last five years in particular we have made huge strides in terms of our accuracy, fitness and professionalism. The current Select Group are the best referees this country has ever produced and I am thrilled that I not only get the chance to continue working with them but also the opportunity to help develop the next generation of Select Group officials."

No doubt Webb's retirement will see an end - or at least a decrease in the number of - to memes celebrating his apparent allegiance to Manchester United, though of course, with him taking a more fundamental role in the development of all referees, those accusations will resurface in a big way whenever United profit from a poor refereeing decision.

So perhaps it isn't the last time we'll see the likes of this...