Darren Drysdale is a sergeant in the RAF and has been refereeing since 1988. He became an assistant referee for the Football League in 1996, and in 1997 progressed to Conference North referee. The Following year he was appointed as an assistant referee for the Premier League.
In 2000, he was an assistant referee to Graham Poll in the FA Cup Final and also became a FIFA assistant referee.
In 2002, he became a UEFA assistant referee, one of only 3 from the UK at the time.
He was appointed to the Football League National list of Referees in 2004. His first Football League game was a 0-0 draw between Rushden and Kidderminster on 7 August 2004. His first game at Championship level was the 2-0 home win for Leicester against Gillingham on 22 January 2005.
He attracted some media attention on 2 January 2007 after Dean Windass of Bradford received a five match ban for swearing at him in the car park after a home game against Brentford.
His last match was a 2-0 win for Bradford at Port Vale in the JPT on 4 December. His last Crewe match was a 2-2 draw at Southend on 16 May 2012. This was the second leg of the League 2 Play-Off Semi Final which saw Crewe win 3-2 on aggregate.
Season’s Records:
Season: |
Matches: |
Yellow Cards: |
Red Cards: |
2012/13 |
18 |
58 |
3 |
2011/12 |
43 |
100 |
5 |
2010/11 |
20 |
52 |
3 |
2009/10 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2008/09 |
12 |
29 |
3 |
2007/08 |
29 |
83 |
6 |
2006/07 |
21 |
63 |
5 |
2005/06 |
33 |
117 |
9 |
2004/05 |
28 |
64 |
3 |
Darren Drysdale & PNE:
Date: |
Match: |
PNE Goalscorers: |
Match Cards: |
PNE Cards: |
08/09/2012 |
Bury 1 PNE 2 |
Sodje; Cansdell-Sherriff |
6 Y |
Baily-Wright; Keane; Byrom |
13/08/2011 |
Scunthorpe 1 PNE 1 |
Hume |
3 Y |
McLean; Alexander; Mellor |
11/02/2006 |
PNE 5 Luton 1 |
Neal; Nugent; Mears; Sedgwick (pen); Davis |
5 Y / 1 R |
Hill; Whaley |
His assistants at Bury are William Smallwood (Cheshire) and Glen Hart (Co Durham). The fourth official is Simeon Lucus (Lancashire)