Arnold Hunter refereed the biggest game of his career when he took the whistle for the friendly encounter between the Republic of Ireland and England at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Sunday.

In front of over 43,000 spectators the Maguiresbridge man admitted it was a dream come true. “I wouldn’t have dreamt of officiating even one top nation team let alone two in one fixture,” he said. “That is by far my biggest game. It was the largest attendance ever for us and obviously the calibre of the players, it was nice!” Less than a week before kick-off Arnold and his assistants Richard Storey, who, like Hunter is a Fermanagh and Western Referees Association member, and Gareth Eakin were preparing for a Friday night League of Ireland match, but their weekend was turned on its head when Arnold received a call on Monday telling him his game was going to be switched.

“We were supposed to be doing a League of Ireland match between Galway and Cork City after doing Sligo against Derry City last week, but on Monday night there was a change of plan and we were told we were possibly going to have to change Friday night to Sunday,” he revealed. “A Slovenian referee was due to take the game but they realised England play Slovenia next weekend so that couldn’t happen, so they asked me if I was available. Because I was from Northern Ireland it had to be passed by England and UEFA but everything was fine so I got final confirmation on Tuesday night. It was slightly different from refereeing Galway!” In stark contrast to the last match between the sides 20 years ago which was cut short by crowd violence, this encounter was a lifeless 0-0 draw that will be quickly forgotten by most.

Arnold however was one of the few people who was delighted with the outcome.

“We were happy with the way things went, in all aspects of the game,” he admitted. “A match between the home nations is normally not a friendly but on the day it was very friendly and there was only one caution. We were more concerned about what happened 20 years ago and we were concerned about trouble coming onto the pitch but it was a very friendly atmosphere and it went off well.” Despite the magnitude of the game and the high profile players involved, Arnold tried to approach the game in the same way he would have approached any other match, and he was satisfied that he and his assistants did a good job.

“We would be very self-critical of ourselves regardless of what teams we were officiating but we were happy with how it went,” he said. “We treated it the exact same way as any other game. We spent a lot of time pre-match doing our homework on the players and the team, but you can only do so much before the match. And man management was vital for that game. Obviously we have seen the players on a regular basis and that helps because you can call them by their first name rather than their number, and they respond to you quicker. They had to get used to me as well because it might be a different style to what they are used to in the English Premier League and vice versa but they were all very good and very professional as you would expect at that level. I was there to do a job and they appreciated that.” Arnold will not have long to wait until he takes to the field for an International fixture again as he is scheduled to take control of another match this weekend.