A Brighton and Hove police officer has won promotion to the Premier League – and in keeping with football parlance he’s “over the moon”.
PC Harry Lennard is joining the Select Group of Assistant Referees which makes him one of 32 top assistants in the country.
He officiates in his spare time when he’s not working for the Brighton and Hove Response Investigation Team, having joined Sussex Police from Surrey in 2006.
PC Lennard said: “I’m absolutely over the moon about my promotion to the Premier League. I still don’t think it has really sunk in.
“I’ve been passionate about football from a very young age and started refereeing in 1997, working my way up through youth and local football before officiating non-league football on various feeder leagues.
“In April 2007 I was promoted on to the Football League assistants list which means being a linesman on the Championship, League One and League Two until my promotion to the Premiership.
“Having realised that there was a huge opportunity to progress up the leagues as a referee/assistant referee, I made the decision to focus on that rather than play football and of course it works around my job as a police officer.
“Also, the higher up the leagues you go the bigger the crowds get so the buzz you get from a noisy crowd increases.
“That’s one of the really enjoyable parts of the job, being involved on the pitch, creating the atmosphere.”
PC Lennard said that many of the day-to-day skills he uses as a police officer are useful on the pitch.
He said: “I like to be outside and keeping fit is essential to my performance on and off the pitch as a busy police officer.
“In both jobs you have to remain calm under pressure and stay focused on the job in hand.
“Obviously with the football there is the added pressure of thousands of fans and millions of people watching replays on television and scrutinising your decision making.
Chief Superintendent Graham Bartlett, the Brighton and Hove divisional commander, said: “I am so proud of Harry. It is such an achievement. And to have done all this on top of his very demanding day job, it’s truly incredible.”
PC Lennard said: “Throughout my refereeing career I’ve had some great advice from various people who have helped me get to the level I am now.
“Over the last couple of years a colleague and friend of mine called Peter Kirkup, who is currently out at Euro 2012 acting as an assistant referee, has helped me develop the skills to be considered to be on the Select List.
