Brian White (born 1961/1962) is a

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

referee from

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

. He refereed three finals of the All-Ireland SFC during the 1990s and 2000s.

Career

1991 was White's first year as an inter-county referee and that year he oversaw the Leinster Senior Football Championship final (

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

against

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

) at

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

. His reputation is a man for "letting the game flow". White refereed the

1997 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final The 1997 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was the 110th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1997 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland. Kerry ...

, which was

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in County ...

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

. Then he refereed the 2000 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final replay of

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

v Kerry. He thus became the first person to referee an All-Ireland SFC final replay without having refereed the drawn game because of a rule change. White's last All-Ireland SFC final was the

2003 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final The 2003 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was the 116th final of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, a Gaelic football tournament. It was held on 28 September 2003 at Croke Park, Dublin and featured defending champions Ar ...

, which was

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

v Tyrone. He refereed the 2002

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in early May. The final is usu ...

quarter-final replay so he knew all about Armagh and Tyrone. ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' said ahead of the 2003 final: "His performance will be heavily scrutinised because of the increased spotlight on referees in this year's championship, especially since Tyrone's foul-infested semi-final against Kerry." Other gigs involved the International Rules Series. White was referee of the year in 1994, 1997 and 2000.

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

manager

Mickey Moran Mickey Moran is a former Gaelic footballer and manager-coach, who has been manager of Kilcoo since 2019, with a background as an inter-county manager who most recently managed the Leitrim county team. He played at senior level for the Derry ...

tackled him in the 2004 championship after Tyrone knocked them out. He got on the wrong side of Colin Corkery in a

2002 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The 2002 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 116th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament. The championship began on 5 May 2002 and e ...

semi-final, sending the man (top scorer in that year's championship) off when he kicked the ball at White when Corkery was captaining

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

against Kerry, described afterwards as "traumatic", remonstrating with White all game long in an "ongoing feud" but Corkery was kind afterwards calling White "a good referee, one of the top two in my opinion" to try to cool the hot water. By 2004, when he was 42 years of age, White had refereed the three All-Ireland finals, had four Vodafone Referee of the Year awards in his back pocket. He had also did the five Leinster finals; one Connacht Final; one Ulster Final; two National League Finals and one Minor Final. He played in the Senior Hurling Championship and Senior Football Championship for Cushinstown. From early 2005, he opted to trade football for

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

References

External links

Examiner newspaper
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Brian category:1962 births category:Living people All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final referees Dual players Cushinstown Gaelic footballers Cushinstown hurlers Gaelic football referees Hurling referees