Premier League assistant referee Dan Robathan retires at 38 after spinal tumours end 28-year career

Premier League and FIFA assistant referee Dan Robathan has retired on medical grounds at 38 after benign tumours were discovered in his spine, ending a career spanning 28 years and more than 200 top-flight appearances.

Robathan was part of the officiating team for the 2025 FA Cup final between Crystal Palace and Manchester City — a career highlight that came just months before his diagnosis. Symptoms he initially attributed to sciatic nerve pain were later linked to two tumours pressing on spinal nerves, requiring immediate surgery.

“I saw a neurosurgeon who told me I had two tumours, initially I thought it was one, but it was two,” Robathan told BBC Newsbeat. “It was compressing nerves, there was a chance it could affect a motor nerve which means it could affect function in my leg. I needed to go home, lay down and not move. I did that for 15 days, my life turned upside down overnight.”

Surgeons removed one tumour while leaving the second untouched after determining it was safe to do so. By the end of 2025, however, Robathan was still experiencing fatigue and struggling to lift his heel, walk properly, or feel his calf — complications that ultimately made a return to professional officiating impossible.

“The surgeon said I had under a 10% chance of ever getting back on the field but even then I was like ‘I don’t care, I will prove everyone wrong,’” he said. In the end, he acknowledged, “the decision was made for me.”

Announcing his retirement on Instagram, Robathan wrote: “After 28 years, it’s official, I’ve medically retired from professional refereeing. The tumours in my spine took the thing I’d built my whole life around, and I’ve grieved it, I’m still grieving it, honestly. But I’m not done. Not by a long way.”

Pro Ref, the body that manages professional match officials in England, confirmed the retirement in a formal statement. “Dan officiated in 203 Premier League matches and over 200 EFL and domestic cup fixtures, serving the game with professionalism and the highest possible standards week-in, week-out,” the statement read. “Our hope is the surgery and recovery can still see him lead a healthy and active life for himself and his family beyond professional officiating.”

Robathan is reported to be working with a psychologist as he navigates life after the sport he dedicated nearly three decades to.