Referee Howard Webb has retired as a referee, bringing an end to 25 years of officiating. However, the divisive referee hasn’t been given such a warm send-off by the Internet, with many people, footballers included, bringing up his alleged favouritism towards Manchester United.
Even former Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand jumped in on the act, retweeting a post from someone who jokingly stated that Webb was following the defender, Vidic and Evra in leaving the club.
Manchester City also bid the referee a “fond” farewell via the club’s official Twitter page, with the following sly tweet:
Webb, a part-time policeman, spoke about his retirement in a statement. In it, he said: “Refereeing has given me so much and I think it’s important that match officials who have had the rewards remain in the game to pass on their knowledge”
The 43-year-old officiated in nine major international tournaments, with him refereeing in this year’s World Cup in Brazil, overseeing the first knockout match between Brazil and Chile.
He will officially hang up his whistle before the start of the next Premier League season, and you can check out Twitter’s best comedic reactions to his departure under the #HowardWebb hashtag.
