Football referees in North Herts have a new friend at the Herts FA. Phil Sharp, a FIFA international assistant list referee, is the new county referee development officer. He is based at the County Ground in Letchworth GC with the responsibility of develo

Football referees in North Herts have a new friend at the Herts FA.

Phil Sharp, a FIFA international assistant list referee, is the new county referee development officer.

He is based at the County Ground in Letchworth GC 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 Herts Senior County League.

He is currently a Premier League assistant and also on the FIFA list of international assistant referees and has been since 1997.

Highlights include the FA Cup final in 1999 between Manchester United and Newcastle United along with the Olympic football tournament in Athens in 2004, assisting in the final between Argentina and Paraguay.

One of his greatest achievements is assisting Pierluigi Collina at the World Cup final in Japan in 2002 which saw Brazil defeat Germany.

Call Phil at the Herts FA headquarters on 01462 677622.