After spending 12 years as a non-league football player at the likes of Cambridge City and Hertford Town, Mark Halsey turned to a career in refereeing and has gone on to become one of the top officials at a national and international level.

Halsey was a Football League official from the mid-1990’s until he was promoted to the Select Group of referees in 1999. He went on to become an ever-present in the top flight before undergoing treatment to remove a cancerous tumour in his throat in 2009.

He bravely battled through the treatment and passed a fitness test in 2010, allowing him to resume his career as an official. He returned to action when he took control of Rotherham United’s League Two clash with Port Vale in April 2010. The following season, he was reinstated as a Premier League referee and has remained in the Select Group ever since.

One of Halsey's most notable achievements was to officiate the 2008 League Cup Final when Tottenham Hotspur took on Chelsea. He has also been in the middle for an FA Community Shield and was a FIFA-listed referee between 2000 and 2006.