But when Stark's not overseeing 22 millionaires kicking a ball, he’s actually a banker.
Yes, the referee’s a banker. You see, it wasn’t just a clever title.
So what do the other men in black get up to when they’re not brandishing red cards? It’s called the loneliest job in football, so it’s good to have a back up.
Well, a quick search of what old people call "the magic lantern" (eg, the Internet) reveals that there’s an estate agent (Slovenia), an architect (Italy), a financial advisor (Portugal), a supermarket owner (Holland) and even a video games distributor (France).
And the guy who took charge when the Greeks came bearing gifts (probably an IOU) against Russia last Saturday is perhaps the only referee in the world who’s better off than the players on the pitch. Jonas Eriksson from Sweden became a multi-millionaire thanks to his 15% stake in a Swedish TV company.
England’s representative at Euro 2012, Howard Webb, used to be a cop so he’s used to dealing with tabloid fodder. And, having already taken control of a World Cup final, the depressing reality is that it’s quite likely he'll get further in the tournament than the English team.
But it's a lot worse for the Scots. They didn’t even make it to Euro 2012 so have to pin all their patriotism on ref Craig Thomson who, incidentally, is also a solicitor specialising in construction and engineering law.
In a recent survey of football fans, 57% said they would give up sex to win Euro 2012.
So it seems it's not just the refs who are bankers.
Copyright : Comedy Central UK