Premier League has announced Sam Allison as the first black referee in the league since Uriah Rennie, who officiated for 11 years until 2008.
The 42-year-old will referee the Premier League match between Sheffield United and Luton Town on Boxing Day, Tuesday, December 26.
Allison had a successful career as a player before becoming a referee, starting his journey with Swindon Town and eventually playing for Bristol City, AFC Bournemouth, and Exeter City.
He also made appearances for England schoolboys and represented Great Britain before venturing into refereeing.
Before his refereeing career, it should be noted that Allison worked as a firefighter.
After the introduction of the Elite Referee Development Plan, Allison started officiating full-time.
In 2020, Sam Allison was promoted to become the third black referee in the EFL, following the footsteps of Rennie and Trevor Parkes.
The 42-year-old renowned referee has now overseen more than 100 matches in the EFL.
Meanwhile, Sam got his first experience in the Premier League in October 2022 as the fourth official in the match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea.
He was later promoted to officiate in the Championship for the 2023/24 season.
The refereeing group for Black, Asian, and Mixed Heritage individuals (BAMRef) has released a statement expressing their approval of Sam's appointment.
The body sees this recent appointment as a positive move towards better representation of society and players in football officiating.
In their official statement, they wrote: “We welcome this appointment."
"It is a further step in the right direction towards refereeing reflecting society and the playing contingent within football."
“It is also the culmination of years of hard work by BAMRef members."
"We hope to work with Howard Webb to identify and progress more black officials to the top flight.”
Allison is not the only celebrated referee appointed by PGMOL as Rebecca Welch has also made history by becoming the first female referee to officiate a Premier League game.
The English Premier League announced this landmark appointment on their official website on Thursday, December 14.
comesh, who comes from Washington, began her refereeing career in 2010 while working in the National Health Service before transitioning to becoming a full-time referee.
Her first game as a central referee will be the match between Fulham and Burnley on Saturday, December 23.
The 40-year-old made history in 2021 as the first woman to referee an EFL match when she officiated the League Two fixture between Harrogate Town and Port Vale.
Throughout her career, Welch has also officiated prestigious matches in the Women’s Super League and served as the referee for both the 2017 and 2020 Women’s FA Cup finals at Wembley Stadium.
Her accomplishments continued in December 2020 when she was added to FIFA’s Elite List of International Match Officials.
She proceeded to officiate matches at the 2022 UEFA Women’s European Championship and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Breaking more barriers, she became the first woman to referee matches in the Championship and FA Cup third round.
Interestingly, she recently made history as the first woman to act as the fourth official in Manchester United's 1-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage in November.
This season, both Sam Allison and Rebecca Welch will be the fourth and fifth referees from PGMOL’s Select Group 2 to officiate a Premier League match, following the lead of Sam Barrott, Bobby Madley, and Josh Smith.
The 42-year-old will referee the Premier League match between Sheffield United and Luton Town on Boxing Day, Tuesday, December 26.
Sam Allison's football and refereeing career
Allison had a successful career as a player before becoming a referee, starting his journey with Swindon Town and eventually playing for Bristol City, AFC Bournemouth, and Exeter City.
He also made appearances for England schoolboys and represented Great Britain before venturing into refereeing.
Before his refereeing career, it should be noted that Allison worked as a firefighter.
After the introduction of the Elite Referee Development Plan, Allison started officiating full-time.
In 2020, Sam Allison was promoted to become the third black referee in the EFL, following the footsteps of Rennie and Trevor Parkes.
The 42-year-old renowned referee has now overseen more than 100 matches in the EFL.
Meanwhile, Sam got his first experience in the Premier League in October 2022 as the fourth official in the match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea.
He was later promoted to officiate in the Championship for the 2023/24 season.
The refereeing group for Black, Asian, and Mixed Heritage individuals (BAMRef) has released a statement expressing their approval of Sam's appointment.
The body sees this recent appointment as a positive move towards better representation of society and players in football officiating.
In their official statement, they wrote: “We welcome this appointment."
"It is a further step in the right direction towards refereeing reflecting society and the playing contingent within football."
“It is also the culmination of years of hard work by BAMRef members."
"We hope to work with Howard Webb to identify and progress more black officials to the top flight.”
Premier League appoints Rebecca Welch as first female referee
Allison is not the only celebrated referee appointed by PGMOL as Rebecca Welch has also made history by becoming the first female referee to officiate a Premier League game.
The English Premier League announced this landmark appointment on their official website on Thursday, December 14.
Rebecca Welch's refereeing career
comesh, who comes from Washington, began her refereeing career in 2010 while working in the National Health Service before transitioning to becoming a full-time referee.
Her first game as a central referee will be the match between Fulham and Burnley on Saturday, December 23.
The 40-year-old made history in 2021 as the first woman to referee an EFL match when she officiated the League Two fixture between Harrogate Town and Port Vale.
Throughout her career, Welch has also officiated prestigious matches in the Women’s Super League and served as the referee for both the 2017 and 2020 Women’s FA Cup finals at Wembley Stadium.
Her accomplishments continued in December 2020 when she was added to FIFA’s Elite List of International Match Officials.
She proceeded to officiate matches at the 2022 UEFA Women’s European Championship and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Breaking more barriers, she became the first woman to referee matches in the Championship and FA Cup third round.
Interestingly, she recently made history as the first woman to act as the fourth official in Manchester United's 1-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage in November.
This season, both Sam Allison and Rebecca Welch will be the fourth and fifth referees from PGMOL’s Select Group 2 to officiate a Premier League match, following the lead of Sam Barrott, Bobby Madley, and Josh Smith.