Referee Mark Halsey is fighting cancer

It is the second blow for him and wife, Michelle, who was diagnosed with leukaemia six months ago.

Mr Halsey had surgery to have a tumour removed from his throat on Monday and he faces an anxious wait to see if the cancer has spread.

Mr Halsey, who lives in Little Lever, was told he had a tumour on Thursday and had treatment at the Beaumont Clinic in Chorley New Road, Bolton, two days after he refereed Arsenal’s 6-1 win at Everton on the opening day of the Premier League season on Saturday.

Mrs Halsey yesterday said her husband had been taking painkillers for a sore throat and ear infection for the last three months.

She said: “We went private last week and the doctors found the tumour on Thursday.

“They have removed his tonsil and we now have to wait until Friday to find out what kind of cancer it is.

“It has come as a real shock, especially after I was diagnosed with leukaemia on New Year’s Eve and I don’t think anything can prepare you for it.

“Mark is holding up okay and we have to just nurse each other the best we can.”

The couple’s daughter, Lucy Mia, was born in April, 2006, after two courses of IVF treatment.

Mrs Halsey said: “We are staying strong for Lucy’s sake because you have to when you have a three-year-old daughter.

“The doctors have said it is at the primary stage, so we are just keeping our fingers crossed that it hasn’t spread.”

Mr Halsey, aged 48, was born in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire. He was appointed to the Football League list of referees in the mid-1990s and was promoted to the Premier League list in 1999.

He has officiated three times at Wembley, taking charge of the 1998/99 League One play-off final between Manchester City and Gillingham, refereeing the 2007 Community Shield between Chelsea and Manchester United and the 2008 Carling Cup Final between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

Mr Halsey and his wife own the Sottovento Italian restaurant in Worsley Road, Farnworth.