Premier League's first black referee, Uriah Rennie, 'learning to walk again' after he was left paralysed
3 April 2025, 11:11
Once described as the 'fittest' referee in football, he's now learning to walk again.
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Uriah Rennie, 65, spent five months in hospital after a rare neurological condition left him paralysed from the waist down.
The referee legend officiated more than 300 fixtures top-flight matches between 1997 and 2008.
"I spent a month laid on my back and another four months sitting in bed," he said.
He told the BBC: "They kept me in hospital until February, they found a nodule pushing on my spine and it was a rare neurological condition so it's not something they can operate on.
"I can move my feet and I can stand with a frame attached to my wheelchair but I need to work on my glutes."
It was on a birthday trip on Turkey last year when Mr Rennie had a sudden pain in his back.
"I thought I had just slept funny on a sun lounger, I was hoping to go paragliding but because of my backache I couldn't go."
"By the end of the holiday I couldn't sleep a wink from the pain, and by the time I got home I could barely walk."
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Mr Rennie was about to start his new job at Sheffield Hallam University chancellor after being awarded an honorary doctorate.
He said he worked from his hospital bed and is determined to start his new position next month.
"It has been frustrating but family and friends have been invaluable, the hospital was absolutely superb and the university has been exceptional," he said.
"I emphasised I wanted to make a difference to Sheffield and to communities here.
"I carried on working with community sports teams while in hospital, directing them from my bed.
"I'm aiming to be the best I can physically.
"No one has told me I won't walk again, but even if someone did say that I want to be able to say I did everything I could to try."
Rennie was six years old when his family moved from Jamaica to Sheffield.
He made history in 1997 when he become the top division's first black referee, officiating a match between Derby County and AFC Wimbledon.
He's been a magistrate in Sheffield since 1996, campaigning for inclusion in sport and tackling deprivation.
