Howard Webb is an English football referee and police sergeant. He first made his way into the Professional English football league as an assistant referree in 1996. In 1998 he progressed to assistant referee in the Premier League, the highest ranked league in England. From 2000 he was back in the Championship, League 1 & League 2 but as a referee. Since 2003 he has been a Premier League referee and in 2005 he also became one of FIFA’s international referees. His biggest honours so far have been to referee the 2010 FIFA World Championship final in South Africa, the 2010 UEFA Champions League final and the 2009 FA Cup final. Webb was born in South Yorkshire in 1971 and started refereeing in 1989. His father Billy Webb was also a referee.