Keith Paul Stroud (born 12 August 1969
: the Football League official website. Retrieved on 23 March 2008.) is a professional

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 ...

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 ...

who officiates 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 ...

and

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

Career

Stroud first took up refereeing in 1988. He progressed via the Wessex League,Confirming
his place of residence, and his having officiated in the Wessex League: archived report from the '' HampshireChronicle.co.uk'' website. Retrieved on 23 March 2008. becoming a National List

assistant 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 tit ...

in 2000 and a Select Group assistant referee in 2002. Also in 2002, he was an assistant referee for the old Division Three play-off final at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, between

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

and Rushden & Diamonds. Stroud was appointed as one of the assistant referees to

Graham Barber Graham P. Barber (born 5 June 1958) is an English former football referee. He was based in Tring in Hertfordshire during his career, but now lives in Spain. Career In 1998, after progressing through to the FA Premier League List of referees v ...

during the

FA Cup Final 2003 The 2003 FA Cup Final was the 122nd final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest domestic football cup competition. The final took place on Saturday 17 May 2003 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, in front of a crowd of 73,726. It was the third ...

, when

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

defeated

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

1–0, again at the Millennium Stadium, on 17 May 2003. Stroud was promoted from the Football Conference to the National List of referees in 2004 and became a

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 ...

assistant referee in the same year. His first

match in control was the

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

encounter between Cheltenham Town and

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

Whaddon Road Whaddon Road, known as the Completely-Suzuki Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Cheltenham, England. It is the home ground of Cheltenham Town F.C. It has a total capacity of 7,066, with a mixture of seating and terracing. T ...

on 10 August 2004, which finished as a 2–0 away win. Also in that year, he was in charge of the Football Conference play-off final, at

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

's Britannia Stadium, which saw

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

beat

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

3–0 on

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

, following a 1–1 scoreline after

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

. Stroud handled a League One play-off

semi-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

first leg in 2006 and a

play-off semi-final first leg in 2007. During the 2006–07 season, Stroud was 'trialled' for the Premier League, being given the match on 17 March 2007 between

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 ...

and

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The tw ...

at the Riverside Stadium, which City won 2–0. Stroud cautioned three players. On 26 July 2007, a press release from the

Professional Game Match Officials Limited {{Use dmy dates, date=January 201.He is a Everton fan. (PGMOL) is the body responsible for match officials in English professional football. Formerly known as the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOB), it was formed when English referee ...

, which employs Premier League referees full-time, stated that he had been included in the Select Group of 19 referees for the 2007–08 season. At the same time, he stepped down from the FIFA list of assistant referees. Stroud is also currently the Referees' Development Manager for the

Hampshire Football Association The Hampshire Football Association, also known as ''Hampshire FA'', is the governing body of football in the county of Hampshire, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its ...

. On 3 January 2012, Stroud became the chief executive of the Bedfordshire Football Association. On 2 August 2013, Stroud officiated the match between Sheffield United and Notts County, kicking off the 125th year of the Football League. Stroud has been a Luton Town fan from a young age and therefore, does not officiate any of The Hatters' fixtures.

Career statistics

References

External links

Keith Stroud Referee Statistics
at soccerbase.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Stroud, Keith 1969 births English football referees Sportspeople from Bournemouth Living people