International referee Andy Allen has announced his retirement after 25 years' national league service - and some 500 matches!
Andy was very much taken by surprise before the start of his farewell match during the BWPL Super 5s weekend at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School when he was presented with the Dave Warriner Memorial Trophy, which is awarded annually for outstanding service to the BWPL and to the sport as a whole.
National refereeing began for Andy, a product of Wiltshire club Marlborough, when he was appointed to a match at Plymouth in the old days of home and away national league fixtures - very different from one of the highlights of his career, a women's European Championship semi-final between Italy and Hungary in which he awarded Italy a very late, winning penalty.
Everyone associated with BWPL will wish Andy a happy retirement - although we still look forward to seeing him on poolside occasionally as a senior delegate.
Andy was very much taken by surprise before the start of his farewell match during the BWPL Super 5s weekend at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School when he was presented with the Dave Warriner Memorial Trophy, which is awarded annually for outstanding service to the BWPL and to the sport as a whole.
National refereeing began for Andy, a product of Wiltshire club Marlborough, when he was appointed to a match at Plymouth in the old days of home and away national league fixtures - very different from one of the highlights of his career, a women's European Championship semi-final between Italy and Hungary in which he awarded Italy a very late, winning penalty.
Everyone associated with BWPL will wish Andy a happy retirement - although we still look forward to seeing him on poolside occasionally as a senior delegate.
RSS Feed
