Career
He reached the Northern Premier League and became a Football League linesman in 1972. Three years later he advanced to the Supplementary List of referees and one year later in 1976 to the full List at the age of only thirty two. He made progress and in 1979 was senior linesman to Ron Challis in the FA Cup Final. The next season he took charge of an FA Cup semi-final between Arsenal and Liverpool. The match required a replay, which he also handled, but that ended all-square as well, and two further replays were required to separate the teams.
The following season saw him step up to the ultimate domestic honour of the 1981 FA Cup Final at Wembley, finishing 1-1 between Spurs and Manchester City. Aged only thirty six at the time, he was one of the youngest Cup Final referees. Tommy Hutchison of City scored both goals, causing the game to go to a replay, which Hackett also refereed at Wembley, the game ending 3-2 to Tottenham. He was then appointed to the FIFA List for the following season of 1981-82.
He was then appointed to the 1984 Charity Shield match, in which Everton defeated Liverpool 1-0, courtesy of a Bruce Grobbelaar own goal. In 1986, he refereed the League Cup Final, where Oxford United beat QPR 3-0, thus winning their only knockout trophy.
Internationally, he was a match official at the 1988 European Championships, in which he took control of West Germany's 1-1 draw with Italy in Group A on 10 June at the Rheinstadion.
Hackett also officiated at the 1988 Olympic Football Tournament, handling the semi-final between Brazil and West Germany, which Brazil won on penalties following a 1-1 scoreline after extra time.
He also refereed the 1991 FA Cup Semi-Final between West Ham United and Nottingham Forest, controversially sending off Tony Gale of West Ham for an innocuous tackle in the first half. The match ended 4-0 to Forest and Hackett never refereed a match involving West Ham again.
He continued to be one of the senior English referees, even after his retirement on age grounds from the FIFA List at the end of 1991. Although he reached the English retirement age at the end of the 1991-92 season, he was granted an extension and was one of the first set of Premier League referees for its inaugural 1992-93 campaign. He was granted another extra season on top of this before retiring just short of his fiftieth birthday in 1994.
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—Barbara Dale (b. 1940)
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“From a hasty glance through the various tests I figure it out that I would be classified in Group B, indicating “Low Average Ability,” reserved usually for those just learning to speak the English Language and preparing for a career of holding a spike while another man hits it.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)