This is a new appointment that will take effect from 1 March 2004. The role encompasses the training, development and management of all match officials from the Select Group and National Group - both referees and their assistants.

Peter Heard - Chairman of PGMOL - said: "Keith brings an exceptional degree of experience and enthusiasm to the role.

"Having been one of the top international referees during his "active" days, he has since used his undoubted skills to develop successive generations of officials.

"We are very confident that Keith will be able to take us forward by continually improving the performance of all match officials at this level."

Notes

1. The Professional Game Match Official Limited was formed in 2001 to provide match officials for all professional matches played in England. The Board is made up of the Chief Executives of the Football Association, the Premier League and the Football League.

The General Manager (Keith Hackett), National Group Manager (Jim Ashworth) and FA Referee Manager (Joe Guest) work to maintain and improve standards of match officials, ensure the laws of the game are applied correctly and consistently throughout the professional game and strive to improve our match officials’ standing on the international stage.

2.The professional game match officials are divided into two groups with the General Manager taking overall responsibility. The Select Group, currently comprising of the 21 most experienced and capable referees and 44 similarly rated assistants, officiate at the leading matches in the professional game (all Premier League matches, some Football League matches and certain FA Cup and League Cup matches). The National List, which is currently made up of 54 referees and 194 assistant referees, officiate in the remaining professional game fixtures.

3. Keith Hackett enjoyed a distinguished refereeing career, which saw him officiate at the highest level in both domestic and international competitions.

He first began refereeing in 1960 at a local level in Sheffield and became a Football League referee in 1975. He took charge of the 1981 FA Cup Final, the 1984 Charity Shield, the 1985 League Cup Final as well as officiating at the 1988 European Championships and the Olympic Games in Seoul. Since retiring as a referee, Keith has remained actively involved in ensuring English referee’s remain the best in the world.

Keith has served as Development Manager for PGMOL, developing performance and management systems for referees, addressing issues of succession planning for referees and developing communication channels with leading figures across the game such as the LMA and the PFA.

Keith has held various positions at Board level with several UK companies and is a qualified Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

4. The Board, in accordance with its Equal Opportunities policy, invited all those that met the criteria for the role to apply before conducting a series of interviews.