Ex-Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher says the appeal of refereeing was so strong for him that Saturdays in the Premier League just weren’t enough.
Gallagher was a top-flight ref from 1992-2007, taking in the Premier League’s first ever season, and was the man in the middle for Manchester United’s Eric Cantona-inspired FA Cup final victory of 1996.
The Irishman has told FourFourTwo that limiting work to the pinnacle of his trade just wasn’t for him, though, and says he would frequently scrub up for matches in Sunday League no matter how big his assignment the day before.
“For me, I loved the buzz of reffing,” says Gallagher. “The main thing I miss is that feeling when you’re lined up at five to three – whether it was in the Premier League or the local league, you knew there was a big challenge coming up and it felt amazing.
“Whenever I reffed in the Premier League, I always reffed the next day in the Sunday Leagues in my local park. I did it because it was a good warm-down and recovery session, and it also kept me grounded.
“Someone would say, ‘You reffed Thierry Henry yesterday’ and they’re buzzing about that, but when you kick off their game, that becomes the most important in the world to them. It made me more humble and a good person, because I realised how lucky I was, and how others were striving to always do their best.”
While Gallagher was never handed the honour of refereeing at a World Cup, there’s one memory that stands out from a colourful international career – and another where things were a little more complicated.
“My favourite game to ref was South Africa vs Germany [in a 1995 friendly], because I met Nelson Mandela,” he tells FFT. “It was the greatest moment of my career.
"My worst game? I didn’t have a tough game, but I had a tough period of 24 minutes during Syria vs Ivory Coast at the 2001 FIFA Military Games. I sent off three players and booked eight – it had gone really nasty, and I had to be tough and keep my composure.”
Gallagher chatted to FFT after unveiling the Samsung KX Neo QLED VAR Challenge – a new experience giving visitors the opportunity to step into the shoes of a referee and have their say on controversial VAR decisions.
As the former official says, the general public are about to find out just how difficult it is to make big calls even when they have the benefit of video assistance.
“The VAR Challenge is something they’re setting up in King's Cross, and it's been great to be involved with it,” he says. “It gives people a chance to come in and see how tough it is to get VAR right.
“It’s so easy for fans to decry VAR, but this will give people an insight into it. People will say ‘it takes so long and I still don’t agree with it’. But when the general public go to try it themselves, I think you’ll find that they’ll be staggered with how many times they have to look at an incident before they decide.
"Secondly, they’ll be staggered about the difference of opinions, if their mate has a go with them. So it’s an interesting experiment.
“It’s good to give people an insight into how difficult it is to be a referee. I remember Teddy Sheringham saying to me once that he wouldn’t ref for a million pounds a game. I told him ‘we don’t either’.
“But everyone who goes into it does so with their eyes open, and they all go into reffing for different reasons. For me, I had a dream of going on and doing reasonably well. But for others, they might just want to see their child’s team be able to play on a Saturday. It works on so many different levels.”
Interview: Nick Moore
Former FIFA and Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has teamed up with Samsung KX to launch the Neo QLED VAR Challenge. Fans can step into the shoes of referees to review controversial VAR decisions from recent years, all re-enacted by local club footballers and re-shot in 8K resolution. The experience launches on Wednesday, June 9 in Coal Drops Yard, Kings Cross, London.
