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.
On 6 March 2004, he was named Combined Services Sports Official of the Year, due to his work for sport within the RAF. He had been posted to the Middle East at this time, so his parents travelled to London to receive the award from the Princess Royal on his behalf
He was also 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.
In 2010 he linked up with high-street clothing chain Superdry to launch Superdrysdale, a new sports clothing range with the strapline "For Officials with Style". He hoped to strike a deal to have the clothing worn by match officials across the English Football League but the FA declined on the basis "We do our best to ensure referees are not the focus of football matches. We feel some of the garish colouring would affect this policy."
His last match was a 2-2 draw between Sheffield United and Coventry which saw Blades forward Jose Baxter sent off for a foul on former Lilywhite Adam Barton. His last Walsall match was a 3-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace on 26 August 2014.
Season’s Records:
|
Season: |
Matches: |
Yellow Cards: |
Red Cards: |
|
2014/15 |
19 |
67 |
6 |
|
2013/14 |
34 |
106 |
8 |
|
2012/13 |
36 |
105 |
6 |
|
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: |
|
08/12/2012 |
PNE 1 Crewe 3 |
Huntington |
4 Y |
Robertson; Cansdell-Sherriff; Kane |
|
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 are Paul Kettlewell and Thomas Kirk, the fourth official is Phillip Dermott