Career
Graham is said to be the most well known and most experienced English football referee of all time. Whilst his achievements are considerable, including the last FA Cup Final at Wembley stadium in 2000 and the first referee to reach the milestone of refereeing 300 Premier League matches he will always be remembered for issuing one player with 3 yellow cards at a World Cup match during the 2006 final competition in Germany 2006.
Educated at The Thomas Alleyne school in Stevenage, he left education to follow a highly successful sales career in the FMCG marketplace after learning the principles of selling in the business to business world of office equipment with Canon UK Ltd.
An excellent communicator and presenter, he quickly progressed to first and then second line management and for 7 years oversaw a rapidly expanding direct sales force at Coty UK alongside his refereeing career. Forced to leave full time employment in 1999 due to his dedication to achieving world recognition in football, Graham started his own business with another ex- sales director from Hays and fellow International referee, Graham Barber. Together they developed an internet site which they negotiated the sale of for £1.5m in 2001 before becoming a full time professional referee.
Now an excellent after dinner speaker, limiting his appearances to 40 per year due to continuing media commitments, Graham is available to speak to businesses where he combines his sporting experiences to those of his sales world producing a humorous and insightful view of the importance of MOTIVATION, TEAMWORK and LEADERSHIP.
