Andrew Paul D'Urso (born 30 November 1963) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. D'Urso is based in Billericay,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

and is a member of the ''Barking & Dagenham Referees Society''. He retired at the end of the 2014–15 season.

Career

D'Urso was first promoted to the

in 1994; five seasons later he was promoted onto the Premier League list. In 2001, he was nominated for

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

status, officiating in a full international in May 2004 when the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. On 29 January 2000 while refereeing the game between

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, D'Urso awarded Middlesbrough a penalty kick when Juninho was tackled by

Jaap Stam Jakob Stam (; born 17 July 1972) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a centre-back and is regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation. Stam played for several European clubs including P ...

. Upon awarding the kick, six Manchester United players (

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during ...

, Nicky Butt,

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; 29 November 1973) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player. Regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Giggs played his List of one-club men in association football, entir ...

and Denis Irwin) chased D'Urso to object to the decision; the resulting image was freely circulated by the media. D'Urso said of the incident: "It was my first season in the Premier League, my first time refereeing Manchester United and my first time at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

. With more experience I would have stood my ground. I kept saying 'go away', but the further back I walked the more they walked on. A more experienced referee would not have retreated. But there are no grudges. I've refereed Roy Keane on a number of occasions since without a problem." Several players, notably, Keane and Stam, have since voiced their regret of the incident. D'Urso booked Keane for dissent shortly after the incident. He refereed the

2001 FA Charity Shield The 2001 FA Charity Shield (also known as The One 2 One FA Charity Shield for sponsorship reasons) was the 79th FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup. The match ...

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

suspended D'Urso for 28 days from 27 August 2004 when he failed to send off Blackburn Rovers captain Barry Ferguson after showing him two yellow cards. D'Urso vowed to carry on with his refereeing career. D'Urso appealed, successfully, against the decision to relegate him from the Select Group, but he was not selected for a single Premiership match after the 2005–06 season.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:D'Urso, Andy 1963 births People from Billericay Living people English football referees English Football League referees Premier League referees