Darren Deadman is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 football referee who generally officiates in the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 but has also taken charge of FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 and FA Trophy

FA Trophy

The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams...

 matches; additionally he has fulfilled the role of fourth official in some Premier League fixtures. Deadman is based in Peterborough

Peterborough

Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...

, Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...

.

Career

Deadman's most notable appointment to date came on 28 May 2011, when he officiated the League Two play-off final

2011 Football League Two play-off Final

The 2011 Football League Two play-off final was a football match contested by Stevenage and Torquay United on 28 May 2011 at Old Trafford in Manchester to decide the fourth team to be promoted from League Two to League One for the 2011–12 season....

 at Old Trafford. He issued four yellow cards during the final, in which Stevenage defeated Torquay United

Torquay United F.C.

Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley...

 1–0.

On 1 November 2011, Deadman officiated a Football League Championship

Football League Championship

The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

 match between Doncaster Rovers and Middlesbrough. When Doncaster striker Billy Sharp

Billy Sharp

William Louis "Billy" Sharp is an English professional footballer who currently plays as a striker for Doncaster Rovers. He is now widely known for playing in a game for Doncaster Rovers against Middlesbrough two days after his two-day-old son's death...

 scored in the 14th minute, Sharp revealed a T-shirt underneath his club shirt which contained the message "That's for you son", in tribute to his newborn son who died two days prior. Deadman elected not to book Sharp, even though such a celebration (the removal of the club shirt) requires the referee to show a yellow card to the player under the laws of the game.

Personal life

Deadman is married with two children. His hobbies include horse racing

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

and spending time with his family.