Styles: It was the right time to blow final whistle
'If you ever see me on a football pitch again shoot me.'
Words from the mouth of the former Premier League referee whose shock walk-out has barely raised a ripple in the footballing pond.
Spoken in jest by Rob Styles, nonetheless there is a steel ingrained in his tone.
It's how the Waterlooville official wanted it. After 22 years of acting as the man in the middle, he opted to quit, tip-toeing his way to liberation.
The surprise decision comes four years after taking charge of the FA Cup final. It has arrived at least four years before the dreaded spectre of retirement was scheduled to swoop.
It shouldn't have been Styles' time. He thought otherwise.
After taking charge of an international between Japan and Belgium on May 31, he popped his resignation letter in the post and slunk away from football.
Only wife, Liz, and close friend and former referee, Graham Poll, knew of his intentions.
There was no farewell speech, no tearful goodbyes, not so much as a golden stopwatch being handed over.
Instead, Styles danced away into the sunset for a low-key exit which managed to sidestep the attention of football fans across the country.
No doubt many of them would have organised a right royal send off if they had been aware, in recognition of an often controversial refereeing career.
Still, it's back to the former day job for Styles, returning as a full-time director of Waterlooville-based firm Oakwood Groundworks – a company he has been associated with for almost two decades.
And the 45-year-old will never referee again.
He said: 'I will definitely not referee again. Not testimonials, not benefit games, not friendlies, nothing. I'm not even going to register as a referee.
'Why? Because I don't want to. It's completely and utterly selfish, but I just don't want to.
'If I was going to referee I would still referee at the top level, because I still could.
'I just don't want to commit the time, effort and energy to refereeing football matches. Even local matches at King George V playing fields you need to have that sort of commitment. I'm not interested.
'I'm strong and stubborn – I'm never going to change my mind about this. Not even if Linvoy Primus personally asked me to referee his testimonial next year.
'I will give it the Steve Redgrave moment. If you ever see me on a football pitch shoot me.'
It's a remarkable ending to the career of one of the Premier League's highly-regarded – yet controversial – officials.
In addition, such is his reputation on the globe, he has also chalked up more than 75 international appearances.
Not bad for a kickabout footballer first roped into officiating when his team, The Greyhound pub, didn't have a referee for their clash with Stockheath in 1987.
Within seven years, Styles had risen to the national list and the ranks of full-time football.
Come 2000 he had been accepted into the Premier League, capping a season which saw him officiate the second division play-off final at Wembley.
By the end of last season, he walked off the Stamford Bridge pitch following the visit of Blackburn having officiated more than 500 Football League matches.
Little did anyone, but Styles, realise that penultimate game of the season would be his Premier League swansong.
He added: 'There was no Eureka moment in my decision to quit, it was a steady erosion.
'You look back in your career, you look forward in your career, and quite obviously there's more behind me than in front. I can't do the FA Cup again, for instance.
'I have been incredibly privileged.
'I have done all the big games in England and have achieved all I can achieve internationally at my life. You ask yourself what else is there?
'In most walks of life, if you feel you have achieved the majority of your ambitions and that some element of enjoyment and job satisfaction are missing, then you can look for a job somewhere else to maybe rekindle everything.
'Players do it, managers do it, journalists do it. Referees can't – there is only one employer.
'Therefore, if you feel your ambitions going forward are limited, that may affect your job satisfaction and enjoyment. It is my belief that you would be refereeing perhaps without 100-per-cent motivation and job satisfaction – that's not right.
'Fortunately, I was in the position to come away from the game and go back to my former job, others cannot do that.
'I wanted to finish when I wanted to finish, on my terms. It was the right time for me and the game.
'People might make assumptions that aren't true about me going because of lack of respect, or because this red card was overzealous, but that's all stuff and nonsense.
'It's none of that, it was the right decision for me.
'For that last Premier League game at Chelsea I didn't feel I needed to linger on the pitch and take a last look around or any of that sort of stuff.
'I went out, refereed the game, the game went well, there was no controversy.
'I shook the players' hands as I normally did and came off.
'It felt fine – and that told me I had made the right decision.'
Styles has bravely entered his new world.
Free from the burdens of football weekends, he has already bought a ticket to watch England take on Australia in a one-day international at the Rose Bowl in September.
This coming weekend he is planning to sail a boat from Guernsey to Hayling Island. The previous weekend he cycled 65 miles around the Isle of Wight.
Life continues.
He added: 'If you had beans on toast every day for 20 years and then eventually you didn't, you would miss it. So inevitably I will miss football.
'But I won't regret the decision. I already know from my feelings at the end of the season that it was the correct one.
'Football was part of my life – it wasn't my life.'
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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