Karl Dickson (born 2 August 1982 in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

), is an English professional

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 and former player. He is pursuing a career as a referee and coaches at St. John's School, Leatherhead. He previously played for

Bedford Blues Bedford Blues are a rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in The RFU Championship. Bedford is one of the few towns in England where the rugby club is better supported than the football team. The Blues are a semi-pro ...

and Harlequins as a scrum half.

Early life

Dickson started rugby at

Barnard Castle School ''When you are steeped in little things, you shall safely attempt great things.'' , established = 1883 , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding school , religious_affiliation = Inter-denominational with a non-conformist Christian ...

and is a graduate from

Coventry University , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = , type = Public , endowment = £28 million (2015) , budget = £787.5 million , chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford , vice_chancellor = John Latham , students = () , undergr ...

. The Salisbury born scrum half is a graduate of the

academy system.

Club career

He was promoted to Bedford's senior team in 2004 and made over 100 appearances for the club until 2009 when he joined Harlequins. Although Karl was usually selected behind

scrum half

Danny Care Daniel Stuart Care (born 2 January 1987) is an English rugby union player who plays for Harlequins in the Premiership as a scrum-half. He has played for England national team since 2008 and has won 87 caps. He previously played for England ...

at Quins, he remained highly rated within the club with Harlequins Director of Rugby

Conor O'Shea Conor O'Shea ( ga, Conchúir Ó Sé) (born 21 October 1970) is an Irish rugby union coach and former player. He was the head coach of the Italy national team from 2016 to 2019. He played as a full back and occasionally at out-half and centre ...

stating that he believed Dickson to be "among the best five scrum halves in the country". He was a replacement for Harlequins in their 2011–12 Premiership final victory over

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

. On 24 April 2017, Dickson announced his retirement from professional rugby playing at the end of 2016–17 Aviva Premiership season. He would continue his rugby career as a professional referee.

International career

Dickson was named in the

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

squad on 11 January 2012 but was called up to the

Squad for both the

2012 Six Nations The 2012 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2012 RBS 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 13th series of the Six Nations Championship. The annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship was ...

and the South Africa tour due to injuries. Karl came off the bench in the second mid-week fixture against South African Barbarians North, replacing his younger brother Lee, but never received a full international cap.

Personal life

Dickson has twin daughters. His brother Lee Dickson is also a professional rugby player.

Professional Referee

On 10 May 2017 it was announced Karl Dickson will join the Rugby Football Union's Professional Game Match Officials Team (PGMOT) next season following his retirement from rugby said a statement on the Harlequins official website. Dickson began his refereeing qualifications in January 2014 and continued to play for Harlequins while gaining experience officiating. This was made possible by the fact he never made the starting XV. Through the London Society of Referees he made his refereeing debut at the Reigate School 7s in March 2014 and since then has taken charge of a range of matches including schools, club juniors, sevens as well as local and national league clubs. Last season he became a member of the National Panel as one of the best 55 referees in the country and was appointed to his first

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

fixture in October when Old Albanians played Loughborough Students. Dickson has refereed two A League semi-finals, Exeter v Newcastle in 2016 and Gloucester v Wasps in 2017 and made his debut in the Greene King IPA Championship in the Christmas Eve match between London Irish and Richmond. Three days later he was involved in Big Game 9 where Harlequins played Gloucester in the Aviva Premiership at Twickenham. After 169 appearances for Harlequins scrum-half Dickson announced his retirement in April and joins the PGMOT in July. Dickson said: "Over the last two years any time that I have had - a free Saturday or Sunday or even during the week - I would referee as many games as possible to get as much practice as I could. Every game you learn something new and gain increasing match sharpness. "I would always encourage players to plan for when they retire and the fact that I’ve been refereeing for three years already puts me in a position where I can look forward to starting with the team next season and, having refereed in a Championship game this year, hopefully officiate more at that level. I wouldn't have this opportunity unless I started when I did. Tony Spreadbury, Head of Professional Game Match Officials said: "I’ve been impressed by Karl's commitment, his attitude and his desire to go all the way in refereeing. His experience at scrum half means he understands and has a good connection with both forward and back play. We’re very much looking forward to him joining us full-time to continue his development. In an interview to RPA, he said refereeing at international level was his "main goal", a goal reached when in October 2020, Karl was appointed as the main referee in a friendly game between France and Wales, in the Stade de France.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, Karl 1982 births Living people English rugby union players English rugby union referees Harlequin F.C. players People educated at Barnard Castle School Premiership Rugby referees Rugby union players from Salisbury