NOBLE TO RETIRE AS PDC REFEREE
27/05/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
ICONIC referee George Noble has announced he will retire at the end of the 2026 World Championship
‘The Puppy’ has officiated at many of the biggest tournaments over the last three decades.
Noble already made his European Tour farewell during the weekend’s Dutch Darts Championship.
After confirming his plans to retire, Noble also weighed in on the future of refereeing.
He said: “I think it’s time we had the first female referee at a major tournament… and maybe even the first non-British one, too.”
The 56-year-old will become the latest experienced referee to leave the PDC circuit in recent years, after Paul Hinks and Russ Bray.
Noble started his career in 1992 when he began refereeing at his local club.
Two years later, he made his first appearance on the big stage at Lakeside, calling every final there between 1995 and 2007.
He joined the PDC in 2007 and had the honour of calling the first nine-darter in PDC World Championship history by Raymond van Barneveld against Jelle Klaasen at Ally Pally in 2009.
A year later, Noble became the first referee to call two nine-dart finishes in the same match when Phil Taylor achieved the historic feat against James Wade in the 2010 Premier League final at the Wembley Arena.
Image by Taylor Lanning.
