'Roy flipped… That image epitomises Uri. He was a black belt in kickboxing'

The 42

15-06-2025

AS THE tributes poured in for ex-referee Uriah Rennie following news of his death at the age of 65 last week, one memorable image did the rounds.
The Premier League's pioneering first black referee, who officiated over 300 fixtures between 1997 and 2008, proved a key figure during a match between Man United and Sunderland.
31 August 2002 was the date. The Saipan controversy and Roy Keane's abrupt World Cup exit were still fresh in people's minds.
Ex-Ireland teammate Jason McAteer had been winding Keane up during the game.
Less than 12 months earlier, the pair had been arm in arm following McAteer's famous winner against the Netherlands in a crucial World Cup qualifier.
But the Red Devils captain and McAteer, a Mick McCarthy sympathiser, were no longer on good terms.
The pair initially clashed while challenging for the ball. Keane won possession off the Black Cats midfielder, who proceeded to foul Keane.
The incensed Man United star went for his opponent. Rennie stepped in, doing what not many referees of that era would have had the bravery to do and physically blocked one of English football's fiercest competitors from his attempts at retaliation.
The two players continued mouthing off, and McAteer made a clear book-writing gesture about Keane's much-discussed new autobiography, which had been published the previous day.
The Irish midfielder avoided a red card in that instance, but he was still dismissed minutes later for an off-the-ball elbow on McAteer.
'That's a very famous image,' says Ashley Hickson-Lovence, who wrote the 2022 novel 'Your Show,' based on Rennie's life.
'Jason McAteer made a comment about [Roy's] book, and Roy flipped.
'And, you know, that image epitomises Uri. He was a black belt in kickboxing, and he knew martial arts. He wasn't really meant to do that. You're not taught to do that. So that was him doing whatever needed doing to keep the game under control. I don't think the FA were a huge fan. I think there were a few comments that the FA made afterwards, saying that wasn't the best thing to do, or they don't encourage other referees to do that.
'Actually, it was funny because Roy Keane didn't get sent off in that moment. He did get sent off in the game, but he managed to stop Roy Keane attacking Jason McAteer at that point. So that would have been a warning of sorts, to Roy, to behave himself.
'Uri was such a character, and someone who sometimes didn't do things by the book, to do the best that he could as a role of a referee, which is obviously really tough.'
While writing 'Your Show,' Hickson-Lovence got to know Rennie, 'a hero' to the young author, who credits the trailblazer for his subsequent stint as an amateur referee.
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The book had started life as the student's PhD at the University of East Anglia.
The then-English teacher gained access to Rennie's email address through a friend of a friend, and the ex-referee was initially reluctant about cooperating with the project.
Hickson-Lovence needed to 'really sell myself' before Rennie agreed to meet him at the Ponds Forge leisure centre in Sheffield.
'I had to give him a screenshot of my profile as a teacher from the school website and that sort of thing,' he recalls.
The pair met up 'four or five times,' and these conversations would help inform the writing of 'Your Show' — a novel that was also a biography of sorts.
'The more we got talking, the more he sort of loosened up, and we warmed to each other, and I listened back to our conversation after his passing, and just listened back to our interviews, and there was a lot of laughter, and that was lovely to hear.'
Despite multiple old reports simply describing Rennie as 'English,' Hickson-Lovence discovered he had been born in Jamaica.
'To make that rise from Jamaica to a very rough estate in Sheffield in the '70s, refereeing in the lower leagues, in the semi-professional game in the '80s, in Yorkshire, would have been incredibly tough. And that's something I don't know, because he didn't really talk about it with me, to be honest. And then, to make it to the Premier League in 1997 with increased cameras, scrutiny, Sky Sports, all that sort of thing, it's one hell of an achievement.
'He arrived in Sheffield in 1972, and he qualified as a referee in 1979, and I do think it was a difficult time.
'He lived in a relatively small, modest house with a lot of brothers and sisters. So, especially when he was a young man, sport was his escape.
'I think [his story is] film-worthy, if I do say so myself.'
The pair became increasingly close, and as the novel was getting ready for publication, Rennie commended Hickson-Lovence on 'a very good read'.
Completing the project was a major coup. Rennie rarely accepted interviews following his retirement. Hickson-Lovence suspects part of this mistrust was due to some of the unkind journalism written about the former referee in his heyday.
'Even when the book was released, I had requests from The Guardian, The Observer and lots of other publications who wanted to do interviews and things about the book together, and he didn't want to do that. And I accepted and respected that decision.
'I would message him to say: 'By the way, so and so wants to do something, I think they're quite trusted,' or whatever. And he would just say: 'Not for me.' Sort of a polite decline.'
He continues: 'I think [doing interviews] had to be for a good reason. I suppose he didn't want it to have a sort of journalistic slant or angle. I imagine he wanted it to be a book that had longevity, or would inspire others of colour or marginalised groups to get involved in football and refereeing, particularly.
'But that being said, he didn't really get involved, apart from the interviews. He let me do what I wanted to do.'
Rennie refereed over 300 professional games. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo
Hickson-Lovence and Rennie stayed in touch following the project's conclusion and would regularly message one another.
They spoke on the phone for a couple of hours about Rennie's pride following his appointment as the Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University and the 'open-door policy' he planned to have. He was only installed in the position last month.
'He wanted to really break down the barriers in terms of what a university is and what a university should be, and how that relationship would work with the wider Sheffield community.'
Rennie, who was also a magistrate in Sheffield since 1996, earlier this year expressed his sympathy after Hickson-Lovence's father passed away.
Uri's recent message to me after my dad died. A kind man with a big heart. RIP Uriah Rennie ❤️ pic.twitter.com/2k2aUG1nWJ — Ashley Hickson-Lovence (@AHicksonLovence) June 9, 2025
During their conversations, it was sometimes notable what was left unsaid.
Last April, Rennie told the BBC about how doctors found a nodule on his spine caused by a rare, inoperable neurological condition.
The man once described as the Premier League's fittest referee had to learn to walk again.
Hickson-Lovence recalls how Rennie didn't mention his illness during their lengthy interactions, and it was only later that he found out the iconic figure had been ill.
'He was quite a private man. And I think he just didn't want to make it all about him, so to speak.
'He was a very selfless man. And all of my interactions with him, it was striking to me how much he cared about other people and the community and putting others first.
'I just think he saw his role as helping others, community and humanity first. And everything he did had to have the right purpose, and if it wasn't going to help anybody, or if it wasn't going to have a lasting impact, or it wasn't going to inspire, then he just wouldn't do it. I'm not just talking about the book. I'm talking about anything he does, because he's a patron of several charities. He goes into schools, he goes into care homes, he's done walking marathons and half marathons. He's done all sorts to raise money for charities. Charities became his thing, and community became his thing.
'It's weird, because I think of Uriah Rennie's legacy now more as a human than actually a referee, having met him and done the research, it feels like he just had such a bigger impact. He had a huge impact on the pitch, but his impact in Sheffield and South Yorkshire cannot be understated, really.
'He knew everybody. And if it was a charity [making a request], he wouldn't say no.'
In December 2023, Sam Allison became the Premier League's second-ever black referee, 15 years after Rennie's retirement. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo
Despite his remarkable achievements, Hickson-Lovence believes Rennie remains a somewhat underappreciated footballing figure.
'I do think the Premier League should have done more to use Uri's legacy to get more officials of colour up through the system. It's not good enough that it was 15 years since his retirement that we had Sam Allison [the Premier League's second black referee], and I still don't think [it's acceptable], considering how culturally diverse the top level game is in the UK, that we don't have more officials of colour, and managers and coaches as well.'