Graham Poll and Mark Halsey fought during referees weekend away, claims Howard Webb

Webb revealed how there was a division within the group of referees at the time, with Poll in one social group and Halsey in the other

Ex-Premier League referee Howard Webb has revealed how two of his former colleagues had to be separated after clashing during a team-building weekend.

Webb, one of the most respected referees in the game, officiated Champions League and World Cup finals during his career before his retirement in 2014.

And in his new book, ‘The Man in the Middle’, he recalls how he found himself wondering what he’d let himself in for during his formative days as a top flight ref after witnessing Graham Poll and Mark Halsey almost come to blows in 2004.

Webb earlier revealed how there was a division within the group of referees at the time, with Poll in one social group and Halsey in the other.

“The simmering tensions between the rival cliques would occasionally turn nasty, as it did during the following year’s team-building weekend at an isolated Lake District cottage,” Webb writes in his book, which is being serialised in The Times .

“What had been intended as an informal beer ’n’ barbecue night in Cumbria almost descended into a version of Fight Night at the NEC, following a ruckus between Graham Poll and Mark Halsey.

“There was no love lost between the pair, evidently, but the depth of the acrimony took me by surprise.

“Watching them trading personal insults and squaring up to each other was pretty unedifying, to say the least. These were well-regarded, well-paid Premier League referees acting like badly behaved schoolboys.”

Webb revealed Uriah Rennie stepped in to prevent the confrontation escalating any further.