Bio
Michael Hester
Born: 1972-05-02
Intl. since: 2007-01-01
Hometown: Auckland
Country: New Zealand
Speaks: English
Occupation: Navy Lieutenant Commander
Hobbies:

Michael Hester is active as referee in New Zealand and Australia.
In 2007 he became internationally active with matches for the South Pacific Games and Olympic Qualifiers in Fiji.

OS 2008

Hester was selected for the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008 where he took charge of two matches.

2010

Lieutenant Commander in the Royal New Zealand Navy Michael Hester went to the 2010 World Cup. Both (in fact all) New Zealand international referees did. Hester had been an international ref for about 2,5 years when FIFA put him on the short list.

His colleague Peter O'Leary, who has 4 years on him as an international referee, did not get a match, but Hester, who seems to be more of a FIFA favorite, did.

retirement

In September 2011, Hester announced his retirement in the NZ Herald. He said that refereeing has been an amazing hobby and experience, but new challenges came up in his life so that he could not combine refereeing with them anymore.

Did you know
RISING

  • Mike Hester is a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal New Zealand Navy.
  • In 2008 Hester won the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) Sport award in the category for Outstanding Sports Persons of the Year.
  • There was some grumbling especially by European referees about the selection for the World Cup. Third World referees and refs from countries without a proper competition got a chance to go, quality and experience seem less important than politics. We don't always agree with this, Singapore and Mauritius, for example, both twice had good referees at the World Cup finals. Internationally experienced refs from countries with no or weak competitions.
    With Michael Hester though, FIFA is taking a bit of a risk: internationally active only since 2007 and only in matches in the Oceania region. We can name 50 referees with more experience, but all from countries or regions (Europe, South America) that contribute a lot of refs already.
    Of course we hope we are wrong about this and that Hester and his mate O'Leary prove to be worthy of their selection.
Statistics
Statistics for MICHAEL HESTER
Totals Home Away Total
Penalties 2 3 5
Fouls 0 0 0
Yellow 47 54 101
YellowRed 0 0 0
Red 6 7 13
Averages Home Away Total
Penalties 0.07 0.11 0.09
Fouls 0 0 0
Yellow 1.74 2 1.87
YellowRed 0 0 0
Red 0.22 0.26 0.24

Based on 27 international matches

Matches
MATCHES FOR MICHAEL HESTER
Date Score Yellow Red Penalties Fouls
OFC Chamionship u17 2011
group stageCook Islands u17Solomon Islands u172011-01-171 - 4 1 (0-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageTahiti u17Cook Islands u172011-01-131 - 0 2 (1-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageSolomon Islands u17Tahiti u172011-01-111 - 2 0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageNew Caledonia u17Solomon Islands u172011-01-091 - 2 2 (0-2)1 (1-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
Club World Cup 2010
3rd placeInternacionalSeongnam Ilhwa Chunma2010-12-184 - 2 2 (1-1)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
OFC Champions League 2010 - 2011
group stageLautoka FCKoloale2011-02-041 - 6 5 (4-1)1 (1-0)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)
group stageAS MagentaTefana AS2010-11-131 - 0 8 (5-3)2 (2-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
WC 2010
group stageKorea RepublicGreece2010-06-122 - 0 1 (0-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
OFC Champions League 2009 - 2010
group stageTafea F.C.Lautoka FC2010-03-271 - 3 0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
WC 2009 u17
1/2 finalsColombia u17Switzerland u172009-11-120 - 4 4 (1-3)1 (1-0)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)
round of 16Spain u17Burkina Faso u172009-11-054 - 1 5 (1-4)1 (0-1)1 (1-0)0 (0-0)
group stageKorea Republic u17Algeria u172009-11-012 - 0 2 (0-2)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageIran u17Colombia u172009-10-280 - 0 3 (1-2)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageMexico u17Switzerland u172009-10-240 - 2 4 (2-2)2 (1-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
Confederations Cup 2009
group stageEgyptUSA2009-06-210 - 3 3 (1-2)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
OFC Champions League 2008 - 2009
group stageWaitakere UnitedAuckland City FC2009-04-051 - 3 7 (4-3)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageKoloaleHekari United2008-11-223 - 1 6 (2-4)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
Olympic Games 2008
group stageKorea Republic OTHonduras OT2008-08-131 - 0 2 (2-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageUSA OTNetherlands OT2008-08-102 - 2 5 (4-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
WC 2010 qualifiers - Oceania
2nd stageNew CaledoniaVanuatu2008-06-213 - 0 4 (2-2)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
1st stageSamoaSolomon Islands2007-09-030 - 3 6 (4-2)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
1st stageCook IslandsTuvalu2007-09-014 - 1 2 (1-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
1st stageTahitiNew Caledonia2007-08-250 - 1 5 (3-2)1 (0-1)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)
OFC Nations Cup 2008
New CaledoniaVanuatu2008-06-213 - 0 4 (2-2)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
Nations Cup/South Pacific Games 2007
finalNew CaledoniaFiji2007-09-071 - 0 9 (3-6)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
1/2 finalsFijiVanuatu2007-09-053 - 0 4 (0-4)0 (0-0)1 (1-0)0 (0-0)
1st stageTahitiNew Caledonia2007-08-250 - 1 5 (3-2)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)