When Sam Allison referees Sheffield United’s home match against Luton on Boxing Day, he will become the first black man to do so in 15 years.
Since Uriah Rennie in 2008, the 42-year-old firefighter will be the first black referee in the Premier League. Allison’s nomination as a Premier League referee comes after PGMOL president Howard Webb pledged to diversify the elite level of officiating. Twelve years ago, the black official started off as a referee.
“Our commitment is to ensure that opportunities are created to ensure that there’s real diversity in the group of decision makers that I lead – and the organisation,” Webb told Mirror Sports earlier this year.
Before joining the refereeing profession, Allison played soccer and featured for clubs like Swindon, Bristol City, Bournemouth, and Exeter before moving down the football pyramid into the semi-professional game.
“We welcome this appointment. It is a further step in the right direction towards refereeing reflecting society and the playing contingent within football,” BAMRef, the Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage refereeing group – set up to identify, support and champion non-white refereeing talent said in a statement.
“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, from Wiltshire, joined the fire service part-time in 2006. He did it because he believed it would give him the time and flexibility to combine careers.
“I had to look at something that would give me the time and flexibility to do both careers,” he said. “I’ve gone from being totally operational and ‘Fireman Sam’ getting out there fighting fires and wearing breathing apparatus and doing water rescue and rope rescue, to progressing as a station manager.”
Allison has been able to oversee almost 100 games in the EFL prior to making his Premier League debut on Boxing Day. It won’t be his first experience with the Premier League, either.
He served as the fourth referee during the Brighton vs. Chelsea match in October 2022. Allison is not content to simply officiate events. He’s hoping it will be the start of a lengthy career for him in the league.
“I don’t hide that I want to reach the top,” he said, according to Bein Sports. “I want to be a role model within my community and show representation as a black man in football and being a referee at the same time. My desire has to be to reach the top just to show people that you can do it.
“Pressure comes with it, but when you are fighting fires and saving lives, that is a pressure situation. “Having that visibility is key, but at the same time, you have to have ability, desire, work hard, and take the opportunities when they come forward.”