Joe Worrall

Joseph Bertram Worrall^[1] (born October 21, 1945^[2]) is an English former football referee, who operated in the Football League and for FIFA. He comes from Warrington in Cheshire, and has the distinction of having refereed both of the major club competition Finals in England.^[3]

Career

Worrall took up refereeing in 1964, at the age of 19, officiating in the Warrington and District Football League. He eventually progressed to the Cheshire Association Football League, before gaining promotion to the Football League list in 1973.^[3]

He was appointed as a FIFA referee in 1981, serving the world body for 11 years until 1992,^[3] when he had to step down due to age restrictions.

He was given control of the first of his two major domestic competition Finals on April 24, 1988, when Luton Town defeated Arsenal by three goals to two at Wembley in the League Cup Final of that year.^[4] Worrall awarded Arsenal a penalty in the last ten minutes, with the score at 2-1 to the 'Gunners', but Nigel Winterburn failed to convert it.^[5]

On May 20, 1989, he stepped out again at Wembley to take charge of the FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Everton, which finished 3-2 to Liverpool after extra time, the scores being tied at 1-1 after 90 minutes.^[6]

Worrall was the referee for the 1992 European Championships qualifier between Italy and Hungary at the Stadio Arechi, Salerno, on May 1, 1991. Italy were the victors by 3-1.^[1]

His last appointment on the FIFA list, and his highest international honour, was to referee the 1992 UEFA Cup Final first leg at the Stadio Delle Alpi on April 29, 1992 between Torino of Italy and Ajax of Holland.^[3] The score from that match was 2-2, but after a 0-0 draw in the second leg in Amsterdam, Ajax were declared winners on away goals.

Retirement

Joe Worrall retired from refereeing in 1995, having officiated in the Premier League. However, he continued his involvement in the game by becoming a referees' assessor^[3] and match delegate.^[7]

References