Rodger Gifford

infobox football official
name = Rodger Gifford


fullname = Rodger Gifford
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1948|04|12
cityofbirth = Llanbradach, Mid Glamorgan
countryofbirth = Wales
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
otheroccupation = National referees'
years = 1976-1984
1984-1992
1992-1996
league = Football League
Football League
Premier League
role = Linesman
Referee
Referee
internationalyears = 1986-1995
confederation = FIFA and UEFA listed
internationalrole = Referee

Rodger Gifford (born April 12 1948fact|date=February 2008) is a Welsh former football referee in the English Football League, Premier League, and member of the Welsh FIFA List. During his time on the List he was based in Llanbradach in Mid Glamorgan. He currently works for the Football Association of Wales.

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 game long before that, on September 15 1979, when fellow Welshman Clive Thomas had to go off injured after only two minutes of the 0-0 draw between Bristol City and Stoke City, [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=49632 Bristol City v. Stoke City] , old First Division, 1979: soccerbase.com website.] 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 and Denmark at Windsor Park, Belfast, on March 23 1986, which ended 1-1. [ [http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~nfm24/football/1986e.html Northern Ireland v. Denmark] , European international friendly match, 1986: "srcf.ucam.org" statistical website.]

Domestically, he was involved in a notable incident in a match at the City Ground on March 3 1990, when Manchester City goalkeeper Andy Dibble had the ball in his right hand waiting to clear upfield. Nottingham Forest winger Gary Crosby headed it out of his grasp and kicked the ball into the goal. [ [http://www.burtonalbion.com/Squad/crosby.htm Gary Crosby's "header"] , Man City v. Nottm Forest, 1990: Crosby's profile at the "BurtonAlbion.com" website.] 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 played Werder Bremen in a UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg. [ [http://www.the-english-football-archive.com/non_domestic_competitions/results/uefa_cup/1990.htm#quarters Liégeois v. Werder Bremen] , UEFA Cup quarter-final, 1990: "EnglishFootballArchive.com" website.]

Later in the year, he was involved in a European match where a streaker 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 of Iceland and FC Barcelona on October 23 1990, which the Catalan side won 2-1 with ten men, due to the dismissal of Fernando Muñoz in the 53rd minute. [ [http://www.linguasport.com/futbol/internacional/clubes/c2/C2_91gd.htm Fram v. Barcelona] , Cup Winners' Cup, 1990-91: "Linguasport.com" website.]

He took charge of one of the decisive games of the 1991-92 season when Manchester United visited Anfield on April 26 1992, needing to win to keep alive their hopes of winning the League title. However, Liverpool beat them 2-0, [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=230649 Liverpool v. Man United] , old First Division, 1992: soccerbase.com website.] 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), his first match in the competition being the 2-1 win over Middlesbrough by Southampton at The Dell on August 29 1992. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=299761 First ever] Premier League match, 1992: soccerbase.com website.] 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) [ [http://football.guardian.co.uk/championsleague200506/story/0,,1778623,00.html Fastest red card] at that time, Blackburn v. Leeds, 1995: from an article at the Guardian Unlimited website.] when Blackburn goalkeeper Tim Flowers was dismissed after 72 seconds of the match, for a foul on Brian Deane of Leeds United during the 1-1 draw at Ewood Park. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=221266 Blackburn v. Leeds] result: soccerbase.com website.] After the match, a fan attempted to attack Gifford. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19950202/ai_n13964782 Fan attack] in the same match: report from The Independent website, via the "FindArticles" service.]

He refereed his most senior domestic Cup tie in his final season, as Birmingham City defeated Norwich City 2-1 in a Coca Cola Cup quarter-final replay on January 24 1996. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=225442 Coca Cola Cup quarter-final replay, January 1996] : soccerbase.com website.]

He has since become a referees' assessor, [ [http://www.welsh-premier.com/news.php?ID=1823 Referees' Assessor] : mention from the Welsh Premier League Football website.] a UEFA Referee Observer, [ [http://sharp.uefachampionsleague.com/competitions/uefacup/fixturesresults/round=15116/match=300983/index.html UEFA Referee Observer] : mention in match report from the UEFA.com website.] and the National Referees Officer for the Welsh FA. [ [http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:L08vBEydtd8J:www.monmouthshirereferees.com/newsletters/200401.doc+%22rodger+gifford%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=uk Welsh FA National Referees Officer] : mention in a HTML-based cached version of the Monmouthshire Referees online PDF newsletter (01-2004).] At the end of 2006, in response to an impending shortage of assistant referees at Cymru Alliance League level, he circulated a letter informing leagues of the initiation of an FA of Wales referee recruitment drive. [ [http://www.cymru-alliance.co.uk/Referees2.htm Referee recruitment drive] in Wales, 2006-07: Gifford's letter, published at the Cymru Alliance League website.]

References

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

Internet

External links

* [http://www.soccerbase.com/refs2.sd?refid=466 Rodger Gifford Referee Statistics] at soccerbase.com (1992-1993, incomplete)
* [http://calbears.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19960205/ai_n14027200 "A week football went mad"] , an article by Graeme Le Saux commenting on the attack on Rodger Gifford by a fan: from The Independent website, via the "FindArticles" service