Leon Williamson is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

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 ...

. An international referee, Williamson also controlled

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fir ...

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood '' ...

Rugby Football League Championship The Rugby Football League Championship First Division was the top division of rugby league in England between 1895 and 1996, when it was replaced by the Super League. History 1895–1904: Foundations The first season of rugby league (189 ...

and Toyota Cup matches.

Referee career

Williamson took up refereeing in 1996. Prior to this he was a

kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, gener ...

and was ranked 19th in the world in the 61kg super-lightweight division. Williamson served as an international referee and refereed in the 2008 World Cup, 2009 European Cup and

2009 Four Nations The 2009 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (officially known as the Gillette Four Nations due to sponsorship) was the first Rugby League Four Nations since its expansion from the Tri-Nations tournament. Played in England and France over thr ...

. In the 2009 Four Nations he was appointed to referee the final between Australia and England. He has also controlled various one off international matches. Williamson retired from international matches in 2010, his last international appointment was controlling the match between the

New Zealand Māori rugby league team New Zealand Māori rugby league team is a rugby league representative side made up of New Zealand Māori players. The side represents the New Zealand Māori Rugby league. Like its union counterpart, the rugby league team previously competed i ...

and the

England national rugby league team The England national rugby league team represents England in international rugby league. The team, largely formed from the Great Britain team which also represented Wales and Scotland, is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League ...

on 16 October. In 2013 Williamson lost a tooth during a match after a spectator threw a rock at him.

Personal life

Leon resides in Wattle Downs, in thesSouth of Auckland. He is married to Vicky and together have two children.

References

External links

''championshipstats.rlfans.com stats''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Leon Living people New Zealand rugby league referees 1968 births Rugby League World Cup referees New Zealand male kickboxers