Howard Webb was well-known around the world football scene as one of the most prominent referees in all of the sport. After 25 years calling what’s right and wrong, the 43-year-old decided to officially call it quits yesterday, and he will take a new duty as a technical director of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, a limited liability company/association of English football referees.
While many have wished Webb the best with his future endeavors, parody accounts and others have added a quick joke directed at him. It should come to no surprise that all of the jests are directly related to his favorable refereeing of Premier League club Manchester United.BREAKING: Manchester United honour club legend Howard Webb after his retirement from football. pic.twitter.com/6f1ROsxkHn
— BBC Sporf (@BBCSporf) August 6, 2014“I was really looking forward to working with Howard Webb. It’s an awful blow to our hopes of winning the league.” - Louis van Gaal
— Michael Gooner (@MickTheGooner) August 6, 2014
Manchester United legend Howard Webb has retired as a match referee . pic.twitter.com/C9nwrDFOUp
— Troll Football (@Troll__Football) August 6, 2014Even a longtime Manchester United man, Rio Ferdinand, who played for the managers Sir Alex Ferguson and David Moyes during the majority of Webb’s reign, found humor in the social media topic.
"@Moqayah: BREAKING: @ManUtd legend Howard Webb has followed Vidic, Evra and @rioferdy5 out of the club ... http://t.co/HDxDoAXuHX
— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) August 6, 2014Someone actually tried to defend Webb’s Man United favoritism, grabbing a chart that actually has Manchester City, United’s cross-town rival, at the top of a list of Premier League teams the referee has influenced since 2009. The Sky Blues have been afforded 41 points, as opposed to the Red Devils’ 37 points with Webb at the helm. Still, United is No.2 on the list, so one could say that it actually confirms the bias.
#MUFC #HowardWebb match stats revealed – but did Manchester United really profit most when he was in charge? pic.twitter.com/PbHlKyAfZ4
— Danny smith (@doglab) August 7, 2014
