David Elleray

David Elleray

Full name	David Roland Elleray
Born	(1954-09-03) 3 September 1954 (age 62) Dover, Kent, England
Other occupation	Teacher
Domestic
Years	League	Role
?–?	Hellenic League	Referee
?–?	Isthmian League	Referee
1986–1992	The Football League	Referee
1992–2003	Premier League	Referee
International
Years	League	Role
1992–1999	FIFA listed	Referee

David Roland Elleray MBE (born 3 September 1954 in Dover, Kent), is an English former football referee who officiated in the Football League, Premier League and for FIFA.

During his career as a prominent referee in England, Elleray officiated a number of notable matches, including the FA Cup Final, the highest domestic honour for an English referee. Due to his Oxbridge background and "day job" as a teacher at a public school, Elleray has been described as "schoolmasterly" and "" by the press. His teaching role entailed time conflicts with his role as a leading referee before his retirement.

Elleray was educated at Dover Grammar School for Boys where he excelled at a range of sports and started refereeing football games at the age of 13 to earn extra pocket money. He won a scholarship to read geography at Hertford College, Oxford and was a keen rugby player and rower. While at university, he was promoted through the Hellenic, Isthmian and Panel Leagues and eventually become a Football League referee in 1986. He remained there until his inclusion on the original Premier League Referees' List in 1992, and also became a FIFA referee in that year.

Elleray is a career geography teacher and spent over 30 years at Harrow School, where he held various leadership roles such as head of geography, director of boarding, and housemaster of Druries House before his retirement in 2009. Early in his teaching career, he was noted for controversially reintroducing football (which had not been played there since 1927) at Harrow - a school better known for its rugby and cricket traditions - in 1977.

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