Premier League referee Lee Probert is set to hang up his whistle due to a persistent back injury
The Wiltshire official, 46, has been ruled out of the opening weekend matches after failing to pass the annual pre-season fitness test.
Probert has been plagued by a back problem for the last two seasons and is now weighing up whether to call it a day.
The vastly experienced referee has been the man in the middle for a total of 181 Premier League games.
His first game in the top-flight was Sheffield United's 1-1 draw with Portsmouth in January 2007.
But the highlight of Probert’s career came when he refereed the 2014 FA Cup final as Arsenal recovered from two goals down to beat Hull 3-2 at Wembley.
It is likely his final appearance in the Prem as a ref was Southampton's 1-1 draw with Huddersfield in May.
Former Prem ref Mark Clattenburg recently told SunSport that Probert was known as 'the Carpet Fitter'.
Clattenburg said: "He had a bad injury and all he kept working on was his upper body.
"His shoulders were massive but the bottom half he had nothing on him, no strength in his legs or anything.
"All he cared about was his physique. He’s done all right over the years but I’m not sure he will last forever.
"He’s probably coming to the latter part of his career because of his injuries and his age."
Source: the Sun