The Premier League’s first black referee Uriah Rennie has sadly passed away at the age of 65.
Rennie refereed over 300 top flight matches between 1997 and 2008, and was once branded the ‘fittest’ official in world football.
However, his life was turned upside down last year when he was diagnosed with a rare condition that left him paralysed from the waist down.
A statement from the FA read: ‘the FA Refereeing Department is saddened to hear of the passing of former FIFA and Premier League referee, Uriah Rennie.
Uriah will forever be remembered as a true trailblazer of the game. Our thoughts are with Uriah’s family and friends at this time.’
Rennie was told by doctors that he had an inoperable neurological condition and he revealed earlier this year that he was learning to walk again after spending several months in hospital.
The Premier League ‘s first black referee Uriah Rennie has sadly passed away at the age of 65
Rennie refereed over 300 football matches in the top flight between 1997 and 2008
‘I spent a month laid on my back and another four months sitting in bed,’ he told BBC News.
‘They kept me in hospital until February, they found a nodule pushing on my spine and it was a rare neurological condition so it’s not something they can operate on.’
‘I have had to learn to move all over again, I’m retraining my legs. I can move my feet and I can stand with a frame attached to my wheelchair but I need to work on my glutes.’
Rennie was set to start a new job as Sheffield Hallam University chancellor after previously being awarded an honorary doctorate, before he was admitted to hospital.
Rennie was born in Jamaica before moving to the UK at the age of six.
He began refereeing in local leagues in 1979 and was given his first Premier League appointment in 1997, overseeing a game between Derby County and Wimbledon.
Sheffield was the area where he grew up in England and Sheffield United released a statement of their own on Sunday night.
‘We are saddened to learn of the passing of popular and trailblazing referee Uriah Rennie,’ it read. ‘Our thoughts are with his friends and family at this time.’
Stan Collymore also paid tribute to Rennie, writing on X: ‘incredibly sad to hear of the passing of referee Uriah Rennie. A pioneer, trailblazer and a bloody good ref. Rest in peace, Ref.’
