Edward Francis Morrison (born 6 September 1951) is a former English

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

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 ...

. He refereed the

1995 Rugby World Cup Final The 1995 Rugby World Cup Final was the final match of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, played in South Africa. The match was played at Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg on 24 June 1995 between the host nation, South Africa, and New Zealand. South Africa ...

. In 1998 he became England's first full-time professional referee. He was given an award by the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

for distinguished service in 2001. Morrison first retired from refereeing in 2003. He was involved with the Bristol Referees' Society, then the

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

and

PRO12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

. He was appointed as manager of England's elite referees in 2008. He stepped down as head of the elite referees in 2013 just before the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

season started. He was appointed as PRO12's Referee Commissioner in 2014, and he was appointed an OBE in the 2018 New Year Honours list "For services to rugby union".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Ed 1951 births Living people English rugby union referees Officers of the Order of the British Empire Rugby union players from Bristol Rugby World Cup referees The Rugby Championship referees