Yorkshire man to referee Cup final

09/07/2010

Yorkshire-born referee Howard Webb is set to become the first Englishman to take charge of a World Cup final since 1974.
On Sunday, the 38-year-old will step out into Johannesburg's Soccer City along with assistants Darren Cann and Michael Mullarkey to officiate Spain's clash with Holland.
The former police sergeant, from Rotherham, has refereed three matches in South Africa so far - his first was Switzerland's shock upset of Spain.
He was also in charge of Brazil's first round knockout match with Chile, and Italy's game against Slovakia
The last Englishman to have received the honour was Jack Taylor, who officiated the 1974 final.
In 2008, Webb took a career break from South Yorkshire Police to focus on refereeing. Among his more controversial decisions is the 92nd minute penalty awarded to Austria against Poland in Euro 2008.
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