'I hope I live to see England win the World Cup'

For if Fabio Capello's side had reached the showpiece final on July 11 then Rotherham referee Webb would have missed out on the chance to experience a day which he claims "has changed my life".

Webb was forced to hand out a record 14 yellow cards as Spain beat Netherlands, including two to Johnny Heitinga which saw him red carded – smashing the previous record of six set back in 1986.

Outside of Spain and Holland, the 39-year-old's display in Johannesburg was widely praised for trying to keep the lid on a bruising match, and Webb accepts he was determined to make the most out of England's early demise.

"I suppose the fact England went out opened up some opportunities for us which we had to take, and we did," he said. "It gave the English public somewhere to support, but that doesn't compare at all with the disappointment at the team.

"While we were disappointed with the England team's performance, we hoped they would win the World Cup and were disappointed when they went out of the tournament.

"My little lad, Jack, wanted England to win, he had flags out of the window at home," added Webb, whose dad Bill originally came back to England during the tournament before returning to South Africa for the final.

Would the former Sheffield police sergeant have swapped refereeing the final for the England team to have played there?

"I was honoured to referee the final," said the father-of-three, who started out officiating when he was 19 in the Northern Counties East League in 1996. "It really was a dream come true and an amazing experience. There are so many referees in the world and only a small number ever have done the final so I am honoured and privileged to have done the World Cup final. It is something that will live with me forever and ever.

"I hope I live to see England win the World Cup. I can imagine the good it will do for not only English football but English sport – it will bring a feel-good factor to England. We have such passionate supporters here and I think they deserve successful teams.

"It's a difficult question. Now I have done a World Cup final I certainly hope and pray we can get there as a national team as well.

"With the quality of players that England have got, playing in one of the most successful leagues in the world, you would hope we would have been able to perform at that level. There's other people more qualified than me to explain why that wasn't to be, all I would say it left us disappointed that they didn't progress. I would hate for people to think I was wishing ill on the national team, I certainly wasn't.

"I was there at Wembley watching England play Hungary and clearly the emphasis is now going to be on youth and we will see what these young players can bring. Let's hope we can find a successful formula to the national team."

After two wins from their opening two Euro 2012 qualifiers – including last night's 3-1 win in Switzerland – the future certainly looks brighter for the national team after the South Africa debacle.

Webb – who became a Premier League referee when he was 32 before receiving his FIFA badge two years later – had to wait for his first match of the new Premier League season after being handed a few weeks off to recover from his summer in South Africa.

"We get an email about 3pm on the Monday telling us where we will be that following weekend, so I am looking forward to that first email," said the self-confessed Rotherham United fan, who gets a text at half-time when he is on duty telling him how his beloved Millers are performing.

Monday's email gave Webb a return to Premier League action with a trip to the Hawthorns on Saturday for West Brom's match against Tottenham.

He has made the most of a few weekends off by taking his son Jack to watch his beloved Millers at Morecambe – Jack being the club mascot for the day as a 10th birthday treat – and is in demand for public appearances, being guest of honour at Wakefield Trinity's Super League match against Warrington.

The former Millers junior, he turned to refereeing when he realised he would never make a career as a professional footballer, has been back in training for several weeks.

"Because it's been a short close-season for me, I don't need too long to get back into full training mode.

"I was probably physically fit enough to start straight away, but it's probably good for me to recharge. I am hungry, though, to start back in the Premier League. There was a long time focused on the World Cup, now that's been done, I'm looking forward to returning to the Premier League.

"People ask what have you got to aim for now? You have done the Champions League final, the World Cup final, but I earn a living refereeing Premier League and Champions League football so it's not a bad position to be in."

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