“It's just part of the focus that comes with football. When we're dealing with supposedly objective analysis of matches, whether that be an expert ex-player in a studio or an ex-referee, that should be balanced and fair. If it's all one-sided criticism, that creates a culture of fear, disrespect, shame. There's a thirst for people to be told: 'Is the decision right or wrong?' And the reality in football is there's a lot of subjectivity and opinion in the middle of right and wrong. But that's not acceptable a lot of the time now.

“Fair dos. I apologise for my knee-jerkiness. And thank you. I would never have had what career I had without 'A Bit Of Fry and Laurie' to aspire towards.

“One of the challenges that referees face at every level is actually understanding the challenges that we face. Fear of making mistakes, external opinion, spectators, managers, parents, media, colleagues. All these things feed into creating self-doubt, lacking confidence, and then things can spiral out of control and you lose the ability to actually have any confidence in what you're doing on the field.

“Do you speak up – in the moment – to support colleagues and try to help all understand when there might be bias that undermines inclusivity?

“The decision to retire is purely based on my body and my mind coming to its natural course in that current role - and it's ready to go on a new journey.

“Although I appreciate the Commission’s investigation into the matter, I question whether a deferential standard was applied here that would not have been applied to judges with an alternative point of view,

“Any referee will be lying to you if they said that pressure or that scrutiny did not bother them, because that's a natural human reaction.

“Asking these questions is very important for anyone who is learning anything new or trying to understand things in more details.