31 Dec 2008Scottish ref gives full-time job the red card

Football Referees, Players, Managers and Media

Scottish referee Craig Thomson has announced that he is to give up his full-time job as a construction lawyer to devote more time to realising his ambition of becoming an elite referee.

He will now work two days a week with Forth Electrical Services, a decision that Drew Herbertson of the Scottish Football Association's disciplinary department is clearly in favour of.

Mr Herbertson explained that Thomson was having to use up too many days of holiday entitlement to referee matches, such as Champions League and Uefa Cup ties, at home and abroad.

He said: "It probably helps that Craig is single and doesn't have the family commitments which some of his peers have to juggle with."

Thomson has highlighted that the only top-flight English referee who is "strictly speaking" a full time official is Howard Webb, who has taken a five-year career break from being a policeman.

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