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Philip Don (born 10 March 1952[1]) is a formerfootballreferee and school headteacher fromEngland. Don was originally fromSheffield but his teaching career took him south toMiddlesex. He is counted amongst the top 100 referees of all time in a list maintained by theInternational Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS).[2]
He became aFootball Leaguelinesman in 1980 at the age of 28. In 1985, he missed out at the interview stage for a place on the referees list but was successful the following year.
Very soon he showed his potential to be a leading referee and picked up a fair number of top division games. His progress was accelerated byFIFA's decision to reduce its retirement age for referees to forty five. This provided new opportunities for a number of younger officials and Don was one of five promoted to the FIFA List in 1992. His appointment to that year'sFA Cup Final betweenLiverpool andSunderland marked him out as a leader amongst the new crop of English international referees and he was to hold that status over the next few years.
In a short time he made his mark on the international stage. When the original choice for the1993-94 UEFA Champions League Final, DutchmanJohn Blankenstein, had to withdraw, Don took charge of the game inAthens, even though he had little over two years experience at that level. In the match,Milan thrashedBarcelona 4–0. He officiated in two matches in the1994 World Cup: the quarter-final betweenSweden andRomania inPalo Alto, and the first-round game betweenSaudi Arabia andMorocco inNew Jersey.
Don took charge of the1995 League Cup Final but his career came to a premature end at the end of that season. He had to retire, five years early, as work commitments as a headteacher took priority.[citation needed]
He moved into a referee assessing role and later became head of refereeing atthe Football Association towards the end of the 1990s. He favoured a hardline, "by the book" style of refereeing in thePremier League and ushered in the new Select List of professional referees in 2001. This though led to tensions, particularly withDavid Elleray who preferred to maintain his teaching career atHarrow School rather than turn professional. Other tensions appeared and he was later replaced byKeith Hackett.[citation needed]
He is the father of world champion triathleteTim Don.[3]
| Preceded by | FA Cup Final Referee 1992 | Succeeded by |