Barry Knight (referee)

Barry Knight (born 7 May 1960)[2] is an English retired professional football referee, who officiated primarily in the Premier League. He retired in 2008 due to injury.[3]

Barry Knight
Born (1960-05-07) 7 May 1960
Orpington, Kent, England[1]
Domestic
Years League Role
1991–1995 Southern Football League Referee
1995–1999 Football League Referee
1999–2008 Premier League Referee

Career

Knight began refereeing in 1978, and in 1991 he became a Southern League referee.[2]

In 1995, he was promoted to the National List of referees for the Football League.[4]

He was promoted to the Premier League's list of referees from 1999, joining its Select Group of Referees on its establishment in 2001. His first appointment in England's top-flight was a game between Wimbledon and Middlesbrough on 10 August 1999 at Selhurst Park – a 3–2 away win for Boro.[5]

In May 2000, during a Football League First Division play-off semi-final between Bolton Wanderers and Ipswich Town he issued 12 yellow and two red cards to Bolton players, and none to Ipswich players, whilst awarding three highly controversial penalties in Ipswich's favour.[6] Several Bolton staff, including manager Sam Allardyce, captain Guðni Bergsson, and midfielder Paul Warhurst, were fined by the Football Association for comments relating to Knight's officiating of the game. Knight was never appointed to referee a game at Bolton again.

In 2001, Knight took charge of the FA Youth Cup final, a 6–3 win for Arsenal against Blackburn Rovers.[7]

He was the referee who, in 2005, sent-off Newcastle United teammates Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer for fighting during a match against Aston Villa. Eight-man Newcastle (Steven Taylor was also sent off for handball on the goal-line preventing a goal) eventually lost the match 3–0.[8][9]

His officiating in the Premier League stopped suddenly after Blackburn Rovers' 2–1 home win over Birmingham City on 22 October 2005 due to a knee ligament injury he had suffered, and which took much time to recover from.[10]

Knight returned to action on 17 March 2007 by fulfilling a fourth official posting in a Premier League fixture between Reading and Portsmouth.[11]

He fully returned to active top-flight refereeing on 11 August 2007, when he took charge of a 2–1 away win by Leyton Orient at Southend United in the Football League One, during which he dismissed the home side's Alan McCormack.[12] However, before Knight was able to make a return to the Premier League his injury re-occurred after a game on 28 August 2007. He recovered once again to take charge of only his fourth Football League game of the 2007–08 season in early January 2008, a 1–0 victory by Bradford City at Accrington Stanley.[13] However, he sustained another injury and had to withdraw in the first half. He subsequently retired from refereeing.[3]

Statistics
SeasonGamesTotal per gameTotal per game
1997–98381203.15140.36
1998–99401513.77130.32
1999–2000361253.4780.22
2000–01321143.5690.28
2001–02291023.5170.24
2002–036172.8300.00
2003–0430953.1690.30
2004–0523401.7340.17
2005–0615221.4230.20
2006–07000.0000.00
2007–084102.5020.50

Statistics for all competitions. There are no available records prior to 1997–98.

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References
  1. Home town Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine reference: BBC.co.uk article.
  2. Football League Referee Profiles Archived 15 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. Limped off in first Football League game back in 2008: match report at the Telegraph and Argus (Bradford) website.
  4. Biographical details Archived 14 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine: Premier League official website.
  5. First ever Archived 1 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine FA Premier League match: soccerbase.com website.
  6. Bolton Wanderers Hall of Shame #4: Barry Knight. Manny Road, 30 September 2008.
  7. FA Youth Cup Final 2001: TheFA.com website.
  8. Bowyer/Dyer Dismissals Archived 13 November 2005 at the Wayback Machine News Article.
  9. Newcastle v. Aston Villa Archived 1 October 2005 at the Wayback Machine Match Report.
  10. Injury mention: LondonFA.com, Young Referees’ Support Group Newsletter March 2006.
  11. Return to action Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine: From a posting in the Referee Forum: Select Group Appointments.
  12. Return Archived 1 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine to active top class refereeing, 2007: soccerbase.com website.
  13. First Football League game since injury, Accrington Stanley v. Bradford City: soccerbase.com website.
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