Dermot Gallagher

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Personal information
Dermot Gallagher

Full name	Dermot J Gallagher
Date of birth	May 20, 1957 (1957-05-20) (age 51)
Place of birth	Ringsend, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Domestic
Years	League	Role
1985–1990 1990–1992 1992–2007	Football League Football League Premier League	Asst. referee Referee Referee
International
1994–2002	FIFA listed	Referee

Dermot J. Gallagher (born May 20, 1957^[1] in Ringsend, Dublin, Republic of Ireland) is a retired English-based association football referee, who lives in Banbury, Oxfordshire. He refereed in the Premier League of English football until May 2007.

1 Career
- 1.1 After football
2 Statistics
3 See also
4 References
- 4.1 Print
- 4.2 Internet
5 External links

[edit] Career

Gallagher first took up the whistle in 1978 at the suggestion of an ex-Football League linesman called Dick Bartlett.^[2] He was elected to the assistant referees' list of the Football League in 1985. Five years later he became a Football League referee at the age of only thirty three. Even by his second season he was regularly handling top division games and was chosen for the new Premier League in 1992. He progressed to the FIFA list in 1994 after only three and a half seasons on the List.

His first ever Premiership appointment was the 2–0 away win by Coventry at Spurs on August 19, 1992, both goals being scored by John Williams.^[3]

In 1995, he refereed the FA Charity Shield match between Everton and Blackburn Rovers at Wembley, which the 'Toffees' won with a Vinny Samways goal. In the same year, he was man-in-the-middle for the FA Trophy Final, also at Wembley, when Woking beat Kidderminster Harriers 2–1 after extra time. And to finish a busy year he was put in charge of the Under 20 World Cup Final in Qatar, which was won by Argentina in a 2–0 win over Brazil.

In 1996 he was selected to control the FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Manchester United at Wembley, which United won by an Eric Cantona goal to nil.^[4] That summer he refereed in the European Championships in England. However he suffered a serious injury during a game and was then out of action until early 1997.

Despite being born in the Republic of Ireland, Gallagher was a representative of the (English) Football Association, and as such he was able to referee a friendly international between his birth country, the Republic of Ireland, and Russia on February 13, 2002, at Lansdowne Road. Referees are prohibited from officiating in international fixtures involving their representative country. He retired from the FIFA List on reaching the mandatory retirement age of forty five at the end of that year.

Gallagher served out several more years as a Premier League referee with the unique distinction of having served on it every season since its inception. He was the first referee since 1994 to be granted an extension beyond the domestic retirement age of forty eight in 2006.

Since the year 2006, he has officiated in the annual series of national six-a-side tournaments called Masters Football,^[5] referees for which are FA endorsed. This competition features ex-professional footballers chosen by the PFA, and is televised on Sky TV.^[6]

The last Premier League fixture that he refereed was the game between Liverpool and Charlton Athletic, which took place on May 13, 2007 and finished 2–2.^[7]

[edit] After football

In 2007, he refereed every game during the Sky TV charity seven-a-side football competition Premier League All Stars, which took place from September 23 to September 30, 2007, televised live on Sky One.^[8]

In May 2008, he joined ITV1's Beat The Star as a competition referee.

[edit] Statistics

Season	Games	Total	per game	Total	per game
1992/1993	7	9	1.28	0	0.00
1995/1996	21	40	1.90	2	0.09
1997/1998	29	71	2.44	2	0.06
1998/1999	33	98	2.96	5	0.15
1999/2000	35	89	2.54	6	0.17
2000/2001	39	100	2.56	8	0.20
2001/2002	34	88	2.58	4	0.11
2002/2003	35	107	3.05	5	0.14
2003/2004	34	77	2.26	6	0.17
2004/2005	36	80	2.22	5	0.13
2005/2006	43	96	2.23	9	0.20
2006/2007	32	61	1.90	5	0.15