Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1971-10-28)28 October 1971 (age 53) Leigh,Lancashire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Refereeing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:[1] As of 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Phil Bentham (born 28 October 1971) is Head of Match Officials at the RFL and a former Premier League football VAR coach. Bentham was an English professionalrugby leaguereferee andvideo referee. He was one of theRugby Football League'sfull-time match officials since the role's inception in 2007. Bentham was referee in seven major finals and video referee in nine major finals.[2]
Bentham was born inLeigh,Lancashire, England.
Bentham refereed his first professional match betweenSheffield Eagles andLondon Skolars on 22 February 2004.[3] His firstSuper League match wasWakefield Trinity versusHull F.C. on 11 September 2005.
Bentham was referee for both the2011 and2014 Super League grand finals. He was also the video referee in the2009,2012,2015, and2017 Super League grand finals.
He was thetouch judge in the2005 Challenge Cup Final. He was the referee in the2011,2013,2014. and2017 Challenge Cup finals. Bentham was thevideo referee for the2007,2009, and2012 Challenge Cup finals.
He has also refereed in the2014 Four Nations final inWellington, New Zealand[4]
On 4 May 2012, Bentham was refereeing the Super League clash betweenWigan Warriors andHull Kingston Rovers at theDW Stadium live onSky Sports, when he collided during an off-the-ball incident with Rovers'Shannon McDonnell after 17 minutes, and suffered a fracturedtibia. He was given oxygen while being carried off on a stretcher whilst being applauded from the crowds and was taken to theRoyal Albert Edward Infirmary inWigan; touch judgeRobert Hicks took over as referee, and Andrew Smith the reserve official took Hicks' place on the line. Wigan went on to win 36–22.[11] Bentham returned to full on-field duties at the start of2013 Super League Season.
On 16 May 2015, Bentham was refereeingLeeds Rhinos versusHuddersfield Giants atHeadingley Carnegie Stadium live onBBC when he did not return after the half time interval due to a hamstring injury. Touch Judge Jonathan Roberts replaced Bentham in the middle as he was the most senior referee having experience in theChampionship andLeague 1 competitions. Reserve Official Phil Graham took Roberts' place on the line. Leeds went on to win 48–16.[12]
On 16 February 2018, Bentham was refereeingWidnes Vikings versusWarrington Wolves at theHalton Stadium live onSky Sports whenChris Houston collided with him causing him to hit the ground heavily, landing on his back and the 'ref cam' equipment. Bentham had to leave the field due to his injuries. Touch judge Scott Mikalauskas took over as referee, and Marcus Griffiths the Reserve Official took Mikalauskas' place on the line. Mikalauskas placed the collision between Bentham and Houston on report and Houston was subsequently banned for two matches. In the same fixture in 2017, also televised onSky Sports, Bentham was the referee and Houston knocked him over in that fixture but was found not guilty by an Independent Rules Tribunal. Bentham has not refereed since this incident and it is doubtful he will return to the field due to slipping a disc in his neck.