Paul Collier is a snooker

Snooker

Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...

 referee from Newport

Newport

Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. He was born on 30 July 1970. He refereed several ranking final matches, including the World Snooker Championship 2004

World Snooker Championship 2004

The 2004 Embassy World Snooker Championship took place between 17 April and 3 May 2004 at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.Mark Williams was the defending champion, but he lost in the second round 11–13 against Joe Perry....

 final between Ronnie O'Sullivan

Ronnie O'Sullivan

Ronald Antonio "Ronnie" O'Sullivan , is an English professional snooker player known for his rapid playing style and nicknamed "The Rocket". He has been World Champion on three occasions , and is second on the all-time prize-money list, with career earnings of over £6 million, behind only Stephen...

 and Graeme Dott

Graeme Dott

Graeme Dott is a Scottish professional snooker player from Larkhall in Scotland. He won the 2006 World Championship, which was his first ranking title after four previous runner-up spots...

. In 2005 he quit the main tour, citing among his reasons the financial problems snooker was facing at the time. However he continues to referee part-time in various capacities.

Career

He has been playing snooker since he was thirteen years old and became a qualified referee at fifteen. In December 1991, he became the youngest member of the Professional Snooker Referees Association. As well as Snooker, he has refereed both 9 Ball Pool and English Billiards World Championships. Although no longer refereeing full-time on the Ranking Circuit, he remains the sole referee for the Premier Snooker League. The 2008 Final was his 200th match in charge at the Premier League Snooker. To visit Paul's website, and learn more about him, click the link below.

Early life and life outside snooker

Paul attended Hartridge High School where he graduated from in 1987. Behind snooker, Paul is passionate about rugby and supports the Newport Gwent Dragons

Newport Gwent Dragons

Newport Gwent Dragons are one of the four professional Rugby Union regional teams in Wales. They are jointly owned by Newport RFC and the Welsh Rugby Union and play all their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12, the Anglo-Welsh Cup and the Heineken Cup...

.