Joseph Bertram Worrall (born 21 October 1945) is an English former football referee, who operated in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

and for FIFA. He comes from

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, and has the distinction of having refereed both of the major club competition Finals in England.Biographical detail
from an article at the ''Warrington Guardian'' website.

Career

Worrall took up refereeing in 1964, at the age of 19, officiating in the Warrington and District Football League. He eventually progressed to the Cheshire County League. He was appointed a Football League linesman in 1973, a supplementary referee two years later and one year later gained promotion to the full Referees List in 1976 at the age of only thirty. He was appointed as a FIFA referee in 1981, serving the world body for 11 years until 1991, when he had to step down due to age restrictions. He was given control of the first of his two major domestic competition Finals on 24 April 1988, when

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

defeated Arsenal by three goals to two at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

in the League Cup Final of that year. Worrall awarded Arsenal a penalty in the last ten minutes, with the score at 2–1 to the 'Gunners', but

Nigel Winterburn Nigel Winterburn (born 11 December 1963) is an English former professional footballer, coach and current television personality for BT Sport. He played primarily as a left back from 1981 to 2003. He is best known for his role alongside the li ...

failed to convert it. On 20 May 1989, he stepped out again at Wembley to take charge of the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

between

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

and Everton, which finished 3–2 to Liverpool after extra time, the scores being tied at 1-1 after 90 minutes. Worrall was the referee for the 1992 European Championships qualifier between

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

at the Stadio Arechi, Salerno, on 1 May 1991. Italy were the victors by 3–1.Euro 92 qualifying match
Italy v. Hungary, 1991 (also confirming Worrall's middle name): match statistics at the UEFA.com Official website. His last appointment on the FIFA list, and his highest international honour, was to referee the 1992 UEFA Cup Final first leg at the Stadio Delle Alpi on 29 April 1992 between

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

of Italy and

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

of the Netherlands. The score from that match was 2-2, but after a 0–0 draw in the second leg in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, Ajax were declared winners on away goals.

Retirement

He was appointed as one of the first Premier League referees in 1992. He reached the standard retirement age at the end of the 1993–1994 season but was granted a one-year extension as a result of his strong performances. He retired from refereeing at the end of the 1994–1995 season. However, he continued his involvement in the game by becoming a referees' assessor and match delegate.Joe Worral, Premiership match delegate
Aston Villa v. Charlton, 2002, as an example: pre-match report at the

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

website.

References

Print

*Football League Handbooks, 1973-1995

Internet

{{DEFAULTSORT:Worrall, Joe 1945 births English football referees FA Cup final referees Sportspeople from Warrington Living people