Career
Alcock became a Football League linesman in 1982 at the age of twenty eight. He then spent six years at this level before progressing to full referee status. He did not make the Premier League in its early years, but he did join its list in 1995.
His first appointment to this competition was the 2–1 home win by Coventry City over Manchester City at Highfield Road on 23 August 1995.
On 26 September 1998 came the incident for which his career is still most remembered. In a match between Sheffield Wednesday and Arsenal at Hillsborough, he was pushed over by home team striker Paolo Di Canio after having issued the player with a red card. Di Canio was given an extended ban of 11 matches for his actions. Alcock continued refereeing Premiership matches without pause, although he was dropped from the Premier League list two years later, his final match in that competition being the 0–0 draw between Liverpool and Southampton at Anfield on 7 May 2000. He returned to refereeing in the Football League, where he spent his final two seasons, retiring after the Norwich City versus Stockport County match in Division One on 21 April 2002.
Alcock is currently manager of the Mall shopping centre in Maidstone.
Read more about this topic: Paul Alcock
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“My ambition in life: to become successful enough to resume my career as a neurasthenic.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“The 19-year-old Diana ... decided to make her career that of wife. Today that can be a very, very iffy line of work.... And what sometimes happens to the women who pursue it is the best argument imaginable for teaching girls that they should always be able to take care of themselves.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“In time your relatives will come to accept the idea that a career is as important to you as your family. Of course, in time the polar ice cap will melt.”
—Barbara Dale (b. 1940)