Stephen Graham Bennett (born 17 January 1961) is an English former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

referee who operated in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, and previously for

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

as an assistant referee and then referee.

Career

Bennett has been a referee since 1984, starting out in his home county of Kent. In 1995, he began refereeing in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

, and since 1999 in the

. In 2001, he was appointed as an official

referee. Bennett took charge of an official friendly international match, known as " The Other Final", in 2002, between the two lowest FIFA-ranked teams in the world at the time,

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

and

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

, at the Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu,

. This took place on the morning of the World Cup Final in that year, and the home side won 4–0. The subsequent documentary film, entitled ''The Other Final'' and directed by Dutchman Johan Kramer, was released in 2003. In 2004, Bennett was criticised by FIFA president

Sepp Blatter Joseph Sepp Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former association football, football administrator who served as the list of Presidents of FIFA, eighth president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participatin ...

for having sent off Everton's Tim Cahill for removing his shirt after scoring against Manchester City. Bennett refereed the 2005 League Cup final at the Millennium Stadium between Chelsea and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, which the London club won by 3 goals to 2. In October 2005, he was in charge of the World Cup qualifier between

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

, when the

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

side won 1–0 with a goal from Sigurd Rushfeldt. He took charge of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

quarter final first leg match in March 2006 between Benfica and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, the game ending 0–0. Bennett was chosen to referee the 2007 FA Cup Final between Chelsea and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

on 19 May 2007, the first at the new Wembley Stadium. Chelsea won by 1–0,

Didier Drogba Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He is the Top international association football goal scorers by cou ...

scoring late in the second half of

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. Bennett issued seven bookings, four of which came in the added 30 minutes. In the first period of extra time, Ryan Giggs' shot was gathered by Petr Čech. Giggs claimed that the ball had crossed the line, despite sliding into the goalkeeper and seemingly forcing the Chelsea man backwards, but Bennett did not award a goal.Comments
from BBC.co.uk website. Retrieved 25 March 2008. Bennett sent off Liverpool's Argentine Midfielder Javier Mascherano after he continued to harass him when he refereed the

versus

Premier League encounter on 22 March 2008. Mascherano initially claimed innocence, before later apologising for his actions and admitting his behavior was inappropriate. Bennett retired from the FIFA list of referees in 2006, at the compulsory age of 45. In July 2009, Bennett was invited by the England and Wales Cricket Board Association of Cricket Officials to sit as an Independent Director on the new ACO Board. In July 2010, Bennett retired from refereeing and agreed to become a full-time referee coach, sharing his knowledge in developing the next generation of referees.

Career statistics

(There are no available records prior to 1997/1998)

Statistics

3 red cards in a game

* October 1997,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

( Thompson) v.

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

( Kulcsar, Pepper) * January 2001,

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

( Sullivan) v. Newcastle ( Solano, Dyer) * November 2006,

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

( Barker) v. Southend ( Maher, Gower)

10 cards in a game

* October 1998, Notts County ( ) v. Lincoln ( ) * November 2002,

( ) v.

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

( ) * March 2005,

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

( ) v. Arsenal ( ) * June 2005,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

() v.

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

( )

References

External links

Steve Bennett Referee Statistics
at soccerbase.com
Steve Bennett Profile
at Refworld.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Steve 1961 births Living people People from Farnborough, London Sportspeople from the London Borough of Bromley English football referees English Football League referees Premier League referees FA Cup final referees