Howard Webb was having a quiet night at home when the telephone calls started.

In a mixture of angry Polish and crude Anglo Saxon it was made clear that he had betrayed a nation and his life was in danger. Then the Polish Prime Minister announced that he wanted to kill him.

It was a rather unexpected turn for Mr Webb, who was looking forward to retiring next week as principal engineer (street lighting and traffic signals) for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council following an unblemished 39-year career.

Unfortunately he shares the name and home town of another Howard Webb, the referee whose controversial decision to give a penalty against Poland in injury time on Thursday resulted in Austria landing a draw in the Euro 2008 competition and Poland facing an early exit.

Within hours, Mr “Lighting” Webb’s home address, telephone number and work e-mail was circulating websites run by football hooligans. Donald Tusk, Poland’s Prime Minister, inflamed the situation further: “As a Prime Minister of Polish Government, I should be more calm, but yesterday I wanted to kill. I know that there are a lot of mistakes of referees, but this one was ugly and unjust.”

South Yorkshire Police were offering Mr “Lighting” Webb personal protection yesterday while colleagues of Mr “Referee” Webb, a 36-year-old sergeant with the force, stood on guard outside his home. Police also advised Rotherham residents with the same initial and surname how to keep safe from malicious fans.

Mr “Lighting” Webb, 62, who did not watch the match, said that he was initially bemused by the international hate campaign. “Obviously, I have been aware of my footballing namesake and have followed the rise in his career,” he said. “But I have never been a referee and I am not likely to become one – especially if this is the sort of abuse they receive. But I wish him well for the future.”

Rotherham Council was forced to close his e-mail account after it was inundated with insulting messages, many of which were so abusive they were blocked by the security filter.

Polish websites included death threats against Webb, pictures of the referee doctored to look like Adolf Hitler and images of him being stabbed and decapitated. Even main-stream newspapers blamed the referee for the draw, with headlines such as “Referee crushed Poland” and “English man has stolen our victory”.

The fans claimed that the penalty was part of a conspiracy by Uefa, the competition’s organisers, to sacrifice Poland to ensure that Austria stayed in Euro 2008 after co-hosts Switzerland were knocked out. Miroslaw Drzewiecki, Poland’s Minister of Sport, added: “This is disgrace for this championship. The referee is a liar. He was cheating all the time.”

Uefa backed the referee, saying: “We don’t think it is controversial that a player is pulled down by the shirt and a penalty is given.” The association’s disciplinary body will decide this weekend if he and his assistants, Darren Cann and Michael Mullarkey, will take charge of another game at the tournament.

Perhaps for the time being Mr “Lighting” Webb should avoid calling a plumber.

SENT OFF

Rob Styles was temporarily dropped from Premier League refereeing after awarding a controversial penalty to Chelsea against Liverpool last year

Clive Thomas blew the full-time whistle at a Sweden v Brazil 1978 World Cup game in the seconds between a corner being taken and Brazil’s Zico heading the ball into the goal. The result was 1-1

Raymond Tinkler needed police protection during a Leeds v West Bromwich Albion game after he missed the linesman’s offside flag and waved on play, enabling a crucial Albion goal

Mike Reed was reprimanded by the Premier League in 2000 after apparently punching the air when Liverpool took the lead. He claimed that he was applauding his decision to play advantage

Sources: agencies; Times archive