Rodger Gifford is a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 former football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 referee in the English Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

, Premier League, and member of the Welsh FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

 List. During his time on the List he was based in Llanbradach

Llanbradach

Llanbradach is a village in the Welsh county borough of Caerphilly, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, south Wales less than 3 miles north of the town of Caerphilly....

 in Mid Glamorgan

Mid Glamorgan

Mid Glamorgan is a preserved county of Wales. From 1974 until 1996, it was also an administrative county, with a county council.Mid Glamorgan was formed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972...

. He currently works for the Football Association of Wales

Football Association of Wales

The Football Association of Wales is the governing body of association football in Wales. It is a member of FIFA, UEFA and the IFAB.Established in 1876 , it is the third-oldest national association in the world, and is one of the four associations The Football Association of Wales (FAW) is the...

.

Career

Gifford became a Football League linesman in 1976 at the age of twenty eight. However, it was another eight seasons before he progressed to the Referees List. Nevertheless, he did referee almost the whole of one (old) Football League First Division

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

 game long before that, on September 15, 1979, when fellow Welshman Clive Thomas

Clive Thomas

Clive Thomas is a Welsh former football referee, who operated in the English Football League and for FIFA during his career. He came from Treorchy in the Rhondda Valley.-Career:...

 had to go off injured after only two minutes of the 0-0 draw between Bristol City

Bristol City F.C.

Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City...

 and Stoke City

Stoke City F.C.

Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...

, and Gifford took over, having been the appointed senior linesman.^†

Thomas retired in 1984 and, as he left the List, Gifford was one of the new intake. Within two years, he was officiating in Europe, as he took charge of the friendly fixture between Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland national football team

The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...

 and Denmark

Denmark national football team

The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...

 at Windsor Park

Windsor Park

Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland and the home ground of Linfield F.C. and the Northern Ireland national football team. It is also where the Irish Cup and Irish League Cup finals are played.-History:...

, Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

, on March 23, 1986, which ended 1-1.

Domestically, he was involved in a notable incident in a match at the City Ground

City Ground

The City Ground is a football stadium in the West Bridgford area of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898, and has a capacity of 30,602 ....

 on March 3, 1990, when Manchester City

Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

 goalkeeper Andy Dibble

Andy Dibble

Andrew Gerald "Andy" Dibble is a Welsh former professional football player who played as a goalkeeper.A journeyman who played for many different teams, Dibble won three caps for the Wales national football team....

 had the ball in his right hand waiting to clear upfield. Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest F.C.

Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

 winger Gary Crosby

Gary Crosby (footballer)

Gary Crosby began his senior career at Lincoln United. In his teenage years, he had been one of the most promising players in the Lincoln area and regularly appeared for Lincoln City's youth and reserve sides. A slight but skillful player, it was often felt his physique would prevent him turning...

 headed it out of his grasp and kicked the ball into the goal. Gifford ruled that this was fair (correctly following guidelines for the Laws of that era), and it proved to be the only goal of the game.^‡ A few days later, he took charge of the most senior European tie of his career, as R.F.C. Liégeois

R.F.C. de Liège

Royal Football Club de Liège is a Belgian football club from the city of Liège. It currently plays in the Belgian Third Division. Its matricule is 4, meaning that it was the fourth club to register with the country's national federation, and the club was the first Belgian champion in history...

 played Werder Bremen

SV Werder Bremen

SV Werder Bremen is a German sports club best known for its association football team playing in Bremen, in the northwest German federal state of the same name. The club was founded on 4 February 1899 as Fußballverein Werder by a group of sixteen vocational high school students who had won a prize...

 in a UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

 quarter-final first leg.

Later in the year, he was involved in a European match where a streaker

Streaking

Streaking is the act of running nude through a public place.-History:On 5 July 1799, a Friday evening at 7 o'clock, a naked man was arrested at the Mansion House, London, and sent to the Poultry Compter...

 ran across the pitch, despite conditions of "intense cold". This was during the European Cup Winners Cup Second Round first leg tie between Fram Reykjavík

Knattspyrnufélagið Fram

Knattspyrnufélagið Fram is an Icelandic sports club, best known for its football team. In European competitions it is known as Fram Reykjavík. It was founded on 1 May 1908 in Reykjavík. Based at Safamýri, located in the Laugardalur district of Reykjavík City Center. They are currently playing in...

 of Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 and FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona

Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....

 on October 23, 1990, which the Catalan side won 2-1 with ten men, due to the dismissal of Fernando Muñoz

Fernando Muñoz

Fernando Muñoz García , aka Nando, is a retired Spanish footballer who played mostly as a centre back ....

 in the 53rd minute.

He took charge of one of the decisive games of the 1991-92

1991-92 in English football

- First Division :The last-ever league championship before the creation of the Premier League was won by Leeds United who overhauled Manchester United thanks to the efforts of, among others, Gordon Strachan, Lee Chapman, David Batty, Gary Speed and Gary McAllister...

 season when Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 visited Anfield

Anfield

Anfield is an association football stadium in the district of Anfield, Liverpool, England, with a seating capacity of 45,522. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 and was originally the home of Everton F.C. from 1884 to 1892, before they moved to Goodison Park...

 on April 26, 1992, needing to win to keep alive their hopes of winning the League title. However, Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

 beat them 2-0, and thereby confirmed Leeds United as the last of the "old" First Division champions.

He was included as one of the referees for the new Premier League which started the following season (1992-93

1992-93 in English football

The 1992–1993 season was the 113th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:This season saw the birth of the FA Premier League. This meant a break-up of the 104-year-old Football League that had operated until then with four divisions....

), his first match in the competition being the 2-1 win over Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough F.C.

Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...

 by Southampton

Southampton F.C.

Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

 at The Dell on August 29, 1992. He retained his position in the top league for the next three seasons before returning to the Football League.

Whilst still officiating in the Premier League on February 1, 1995, he issued the fastest ever red card (at that time) when Blackburn

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

 goalkeeper Tim Flowers

Tim Flowers

Timothy David "Tim" Flowers is an English former football goalkeeper and the former manager of Conference North team Stafford Rangers.-Club career:...

 was dismissed after 72 seconds of the match, for a foul on Brian Deane

Brian Deane

Brian Christopher Deane is an English former footballer.Signed for £40,000 from Doncaster Rovers in the close season of 1988, Deane first played and scored for Sheffield United in an 8–1 victory against Skegness Town...

 of Leeds United

Leeds United A.F.C.

Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...

 during the 1-1 draw at Ewood Park

Ewood Park

Ewood Park is a football stadium in the English town of Blackburn, Lancashire, and is the home of Blackburn Rovers Football Club — one of the founder members of the Football League and Premier League. Rovers have played there since they moved from Leamington Street in the summer of 1890. The...

. After the match, a fan attempted to attack Gifford.

He refereed his most senior domestic Cup tie in his final season, as Birmingham City

Birmingham City F.C.

Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

 defeated Norwich City

Norwich City F.C.

Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...

 2-1 in a Coca Cola Cup

Football League Cup

The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

 quarter-final replay

Replay (sports)

In sports, a replay refers to a second game between two teams after the first game's results were either nullified or ended in a draw. A game may be nullified if the game's result is protested and the organizers ruled to replay the game...

 on January 24, 1996.

He has since become a referees' assessor, a UEFA Referee Observer, and the National Referees Officer for the Welsh FA. At the end of 2006, in response to an impending shortage of assistant referees at Cymru Alliance League

Cymru Alliance

The Huws Gray Alliance is a football league and forms the second level of the Welsh football league system in north and central Wales....

 level, he circulated a letter informing leagues of the initiation of an FA of Wales referee recruitment drive.

Print

• Football League Handbooks, 1976–1983
• ^†Match magazine ("Match Facts"), September 22, 1979
• Rothmans Football Yearbooks, 1984-1996 (^‡1990 edition, p43)
• Romeo Ionescu (2004) The Complete Results Of the UEFA Cup, 1971–1991, Soccerbooks Limited

External links

• Rodger Gifford Referee Statistics at soccerbase.com (1992–1993, incomplete)
• "A week football went mad", an article by Graeme Le Saux
  Graeme Le Saux
  Graeme Pierre Le Saux is a retired English footballer of French ancestry who played for the Premier League clubs Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers and Southampton, and for the England national football team. Primarily a left back, he was sometimes also played in midfield or on the left wing.After...
  
   commenting on the attack on Rodger Gifford by a fan: from The Independent
  The Independent
  The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
  
   website, via the FindArticles service