Luton referee shortlisted for FA award

Hannon, was nominated last week for the Outstanding Contribution to refereeing category by The FA’s national judging panel.

He said: “To be shortlisted for this referee award is a huge honour. I would like to thank the Bedfordshire County FA for supporting me this season and even if I am not the overall winner I am very proud to have been shortlisted.”

Hannon is now up against five other nominees from around the country to win the overall prize, with the final award ceremony taking place at Wembley Stadium ahead of England v Scotland on August 14 - one of England’s major internationals in 2013 celebrating The FA’s 150th anniversary year.

Current Premier League referee Howard Webb, who launched the scheme back in October, congratulated Hannon on his nomination, saying: “We had over 500 nominations from around the country so for Vince to have been shortlisted into the top six of his category by The FA panel this week is a great achievement.”

David Scott, director of brands marketing at Carlsberg, said: “We are delighted to have seen such a high standard of nominations in the first year of these national awards and now we are down to the final six for each category Vince can be very proud to be shortlisted.

“We believe referees at grassroots level deserve more recognition and our aim in supporting these awards is to ensure they receive it.”