No regrets from Yorkshire's World Cup referee who had to enforce the laws

The 39-year-old from Rotherham shot to global prominence last month when he became the first Englishman to referee a World Cup final since Jack Taylor in 1974.

On a five-year sabbatical from South Yorkshire Police, in a short few years Webb had gone from community policing on some of Sheffield's toughest inner-city estates to walking out in front of more than 84,000 fans in Johannesburg's Soccer City – and an estimated television audience of one billion – to officiate in one of sport's iconic events.

Spain beat Netherlands in a bruising final which saw Webb hand out 14 yellow cards – the two shown to Johnny Heitinga duly becoming red – shattering the previous record of six cautions back in 1986.

The cynical and violent tones of the showpiece game received global condemnation, but Webb emerged with praise for his performance. It probably brought memories back of a Saturday night in Sheffield city centre as a bobby, battling in vain to keep the peace amid a backdrop of drunken thuggery.

Thrust into the international spotlight, Webb returned to his Rotherham home to be greeted by an army of journalists and television crews camped on his driveway.

"Being a referee you do not want to be the star of the show, that's not my intention, and we are not used to receiving positive support," said Webb, who also officiated at this year's Champions League final between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich.

"If you do a good job, you don't get noticed. That's the role we have in the game. To be anonymously competent is pretty much our aim. To have received the positive feedback we have has been really good to be honest.

"I have been back now for just over four weeks. I had a week at home, then a two-week family holiday in Turkey, and started pre-season training last Monday.

"The Premier League have given me the first couple of weeks off of the new season, which we decided would do us some good to recharge mentally.

"It's five years since I have had a summer off with different tournaments, so it's been nice to have a rest.

"Having said that, the season has started and I am itching to get started," said the father-

of-three

"I went to watch Rotherham United play at Morecambe on Saturday – my lad Jack was mascot there, it was his 10th birthday so as a treat we organised that for him.

"Getting back and watching Match of the Day just made me think, 'Yeah, I am ready for this'."

Having finished last season on May 9 by taking charge of West Ham against Manchester City, Webb was then involved in the Football League play-offs before officiating in the Champions League final.

"We then had six weeks in South Africa, four games, and it's been a long summer. An enjoyable one, but a long summer," he admitted.

Webb looks back on the final feeling disappointed, but insists he got most of the key decisions correct during the match. Apart from the sour grapes from the losing Dutch team and media, Webb has been inundated with support from around the globe.

"We look back on every game. A few days after I got back I sat down one afternoon and watched the full two hours on TV. It looked a much better game on TV than what it felt. When you are refereeing, you are so involved in controlling the game, making decisions, you lose sight of whether it's a good game or not.

"It was a tough game with a lot of decisions to make, but there's not an awful lot I would change really. Ultimately, we had to try and do our jobs the best we

could in difficult circumstances. We felt quite satisfied, coming

away from South Africa, with our performance in the final and what we achieved out there as a whole.

"We go into every game hoping people will be talking about the match, and not the officials, so we are not the centre of attention, but sometimes you have to raise your profile to maintain control or make some big decisions.

"Because we got some negative reaction, particularly from the losing team at the end of the game, it left us somewhat despondent at the end. We came off the pitch feeling it wasn't the sort of game we hoped it would be. It left us a little down.

"But the support we got from back home, and around the world, was outstanding and gave us a big boost. That continued, to be fair, in the following weeks. Even now, going to public events, everyone has been really complimentary.

"Some parts of the Dutch media have been critical and I understand that we will be criticised in certain circumstances. It's part of the job and we are there to do a job, not please all the people, all the time, which is fairly impossible.

"We tried to control the game in a way where what you do is correct for the game and the occasion, we were mindful of the magnitude of the game. You have to try and uphold the laws of the game, but you are aware of the occasion which we were in and we didn't want to spoil the game.

"We weren't given any instructions to do certain things, we just tried to do what we thought was right on the day. Ultimately, I hope people can look back on the game and say it wasn't spoiled by the officials."

Webb is due to return to his job as a police sergeant in Sheffield in April 2013, although he admits the events of July 11 have changed his life forever.

"I am on a five-year career break from South Yorkshire Police. I was a police sergeant in Sheffield city centre until April 2008. It's a wonderful scheme from my point of view, in that I can take a career break and they guarantee me a return at the same rank and police district. I have got until April 2013 to decide whether I go back and the understanding at the moment is that, yes, I will go back.

"Clearly I won't be able to do undercover work now, but I enjoyed pretty much every day of my police service. I always wanted to be a policeman from a small boy – if I couldn't be a professional footballer – and the job has been really good to me. I will make the return in 2013.

"I was a uniformed sergeant in the Sheffield community, working in some interesting areas like Park Hill, Norfolk Park and Arbourthorne. There were some good people in there but they were challenging areas. I enjoyed it and would love to go back to being involved in police work.

"The World Cup final though has changed my life, it's a unique position to be in and we will see what happens in the next few months. I am just looking forward to the new season ahead, enjoying the support I have had for the World Cup achievements, and we will see where things take us."

Like most football-mad youngsters, Webb dreamed of becoming a professional footballer with his hometown club of Rotherham United.

He played for the Millers' juniors but never made it beyond his teenage years and it was an invitation from his father Bill – who was in Johannesburg to watch his son for the final – which set the then teenager Webb on the path to becoming one of the world's most famous referees.

"I played as a junior down at Rotherham United and dreamed and hoped, and honestly believed I would make it, until I was about 14, 15, okay 24,"he joked.

"No, seriously, like many kids I wasn't given the God-given talent or good fortune to break through. I had a future of playing semi-professional football and started doing that at a local level.

"My father, who was a referee himself, asked if I wanted to become a referee – I was 18 at the time. I wasn't initially interested, it didn't fire my rockets, but thought it would be nice for some young referees to be involved.

"Referees were bald, old men in my opinion – I have probably become one of them – but me and a friend from school decided to give it a go and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

"I wouldn't have dreamed back in 1989 that I would be standing here having refereed the World Cup final. I am a really blessed individual but lucky I made the right decision back then to get involved."