Dan Robathan, a Premier League and Fifa assistant referee, has been forced to medically retire after benign tumours were discovered in his spine. The 38-year-old, who lives near Norwich, was told the tumours were non-cancerous but have caused him significant damage, and this week he confirmed that his career on the line is over — in effect, he says, the decision was made for him.
The high point of that career came in May 2025, when he ran the line at the FA Cup final between Crystal Palace and Manchester City. Speaking at the time, Robathan described it as “a privilege to stand there on behalf of over 37,000 referees across the country”.
Only months later, symptoms he had assumed were sciatic nerve pain and ordinary wear and tear turned out to be something far more serious. “I saw a neurosurgeon who told me I had two tumours, initially I thought it was one, but it was two,” he told BBC Newsbeat. The tumours were compressing nerves, and he was warned there was a chance a motor nerve could be affected, with consequences for the function of his leg. He was sent home with instructions to lie down and not move, which he did for 15 days. “My life turned upside down overnight,” he said.
Among the problems he began experiencing were sexual dysfunction and bladder issues so severe that he had to sit down to urinate because he could not stand. It was not until September 2025, he explains, that he recognised something was seriously wrong.
Surgeons removed one of the tumours and left the other alone after it was deemed safe. The tumours were non-cancerous, but the damage they caused was considerable, and Robathan has described his post-operation recovery as “brutal”. Even so, he says there was “no doubt” in his mind that he would return.
By Christmas 2025 he was still feeling fatigued and was struggling to lift his heel, to walk, and to feel his calf. His surgeon told him he had under a 10% chance of ever getting back on the field. “Even then I was like I don’t care, I will prove everyone wrong,” Robathan recalled. But despite fighting hard to recover, he was unable to regain his fitness levels, and this week he was forced to medically retire.
Robathan’s route to elite officiating began when he picked up his first flag at the age of 10, and he worked his way up from grassroots football to the touchlines of more than 200 Premier League matches and World Cup qualifiers. The FA describes Fifa match officials as the “pinnacle of the officiating ladder”, and the chances of reaching that level are low. Images from recent years show him embracing Arne Slot, then the Liverpool manager, explaining a decision to Emiliano Martinez, and officiating matches played without fans during the Covid pandemic.
The 38-year-old says he still has days when he struggles to walk, or when his back feels “on fire”. “My body just can’t do what I want it to do,” he said. He also underwent testing that confirmed his tumours were not linked to genetics, a result he found reassuring, though he is still left facing the unknown.
“It’s a loss of identity. I’ve been ‘Dan the ref’ since I was 10 years old,” he said. “It’s 28 years of being who I am, it’s my personality. When you have the recognition that that sort of life is over, psychologically it is really tough.” He is now working with a psychologist to work out what comes next, joking that he feels “like a 16-year-old who’s just left school and trying to work out what I want to do with my life”.
Staying in football is one of a few options he is considering, though he admits he is unsure whether he will be able to, given the mental health problems he has experienced. What he is certain about is that his family comes first — his son, his fiancée and his stepchildren — along with a wish to advocate for men’s mental health and for men to speak openly about health issues. “If I can help one or two men in the process, I’ve done my job,” he said. Any return to the game, he accepts, would have to be for the right reasons.