At the age of 44 Bobby Madden gives up on his refereeing dream

After less than a season in English football Bobby Madden has decided to retire from refereeing.

Once the golden boy of the refereeing circuit in Scotland and fawned over after creating media relations it seems that his enthusiasm for the whistle has ground to a halt following appointments at Sheffield, Rochdale, Grimsby, Barnsley, Stockport and Northampton.

With promotion based on merit among English match officials Madden has been stuck refereeing matches in League One and League Two with no prospect of reaching the TV cameras and the pay days of the EPL.

Now at the age of 44 the former Warehouse van driver has given up on direct involvement in football, on Instagram he explained:

I would like to thank the Scottish FA for their support over the years – from my first match as a young referee to various derby matches and international appointments.

It’s been some journey in that time, from Scottish Cup finals to refereeing and training during a pandemic, but the time is right for me for a number of reasons to relocate and as a result I’m grateful for the opportunity with the FA

Madden is now expected to take up a job with BBC Scotland or the SFA but the vacant Sporting Director role at Ibrox would be hard to resist.