Sam Allison: Meet the First Black Premier League Referee in 15 Years

• Sam Allison will take charge of the Sheffield United versus Luton Town match on Boxing Day
• His involvement in the match will see him ink his name in the Premier League's history books
• The 42-year-old is set to become only the second black to referee an English top flight game

Sam Allison is set to become the first black referee to oversee a Premier League match in 15 years.

The 42-year-old was recently selected to take charge of the English top flight game pitting Sheffield United against Luton Town on Boxing Day.

According to The Mirror, Allison's involvement in the match will also see him ink his name in history books as only the second-ever black person to officiate a Premier League game.

His appointment has since been praised in several quarters, with BAMRef - the Black, Asian, and Mixed Heritage refereeing group - welcoming the move.

Frenchman Nancy's journey reaches MLS summit

Football

"We welcome this appointment. It is a further step in the right direction towards refereeing reflecting society and the playing contingent within football," BAMRef said in a statement.

"It is also the culmination of years of hard work by BAMRef members. We hope to work with Howard Webb to identify and progress more black officials to the top flight."

Who is Sam Allison?

Allison is apparently no stranger to refereeing matches, with the official boasting experience spanning 12 years.

He is a former player himself, having played for the likes of Salisbury City and Dorset. The 42-year-old also plied his trade with Swindon Town and Bristol City before he hung up his boots.

Incredibly, Allison - a trained firefighter - did not initially want to go into refereeing and was only encouraged to take up the career after a conversation with a secretary at one of his former clubs.

Jadon Sancho: Erik ten Hag opens return door to exiled Manchester United star

Football

"I had a secretary at the club [I was at] who was a refereeing coach and he tried to encourage me to be a referee and I said, 'nah, not yet'," the 42-year-old divulged to the EFL website.

"It wasn’t until about seven years later that I thought I might give it a go to stay in the game for longer."

Born in England, he went fully into refereeing after juggling between officiating matches and firefighting.

He would later, in 2020, be fully integrated into the EFL roster, becoming just the third black to officiate in the second-tier division.

According to TransferMarkt, he has officiated in the EFL Championship, League One, League Two, FA Cup, EFL Cup, National League, Premier League 2, EFL Trophy, and FA Youth Cup.

Allison was promoted to SG2 for the 2023/24 season and is now approaching the 100-game milestone of refereeing Championship fixtures.

James, Enzo and 3 other players letting Chelsea down after another defeat to Everton

Football

Ref explains Dalot's red card

The sending-off of Diogo Dalot continued to dominate discussions in the aftermath of the Liverpool versus Manchester United game on December 17.

Dalot was bizarrely red-carded in stoppage time after centre referee, Michael Oliver gave him two yellow cards in quick succession for dissent.

As Sports Brief previously reported, ex Premier League referee, Dermot Gallagher has now tried to explain Oliver's decision-making processes.