Halsey�s oncologist, Professor Tim Illidge, one of those effortlessly impressive medical men, stood close by, offering support. �By the time he got to the sixth treatment Mark was a shadow of the man he had been at the start,�� said Illidge. �He was emotionally and physically drained.�� He was also determined. This poison in his body would be beaten.
Halsey thought back to Goodison Park on Aug 15, the last time he refereed. What he thought was just a lingering sore throat had just been diagnosed as a lymphoma. He remembered talking to his fellow officials before kick-off and telling them: �Look, I need your help today because I�ve got cancer.�� Somehow, Halsey got through the game.
His path was about to cross Illidge�s. �I was in Portugal listening to the match,�� recalled Illidge, sitting alongside Halsey at Christie�s on Wednesday. �I am a big Everton fan. It was the most miserable day of my year! Little did I know that three days later I would meet Mark here.
�When I first saw him on the Wednesday, he opened his mouth and there was a huge tumour at the back of his throat and I was really quite worried. There was a very narrow passageway left through which Mark could eat and breathe. The fact that he had the stamina to keep up with the game was extraordinary.��
Every day since then, through all the blackest moments, the surgery and chemotherapy, Halsey promised himself he would referee again this season. It has been an astonishing journey back from the very heart of darkness. After chemo, Halsey went straight into radiotherapy and then came a magical day in December.
�When I came here for an exit treatment scan, I was in the waiting room and Tim popped his head around the corner and went, �YES!� with both arms in the air, celebrating as if he�d scored a goal,�� laughed Halsey.
�If he�d taken his shirt off, I�d have had to caution him!�� Illidge smiled. �Seeing a scan which shows full remission, after someone has been through what Mark has been through, that is like scoring a goal for me,�� said the doctor.
More hurdles remained. Having kept up his fitness at Bolton Wanderers� training ground, Halsey underwent stamina and speed tests at Warwick University but broke down weeping after failing. Refusing to be beaten, Halsey took the test again. �Mark Clattenburg was training next to the track and he came over and cheered me on. When I finished I fell to the floor and was just so emotional. Steve Bennett came over and picked me up. I cuddled him for five minutes while I cried non-stop.��
He dug out his whistle, knocked the rust off it and took charge of the Totesport.com Cup semi-final between Leicester City�s and Scunthorpe United�s reserves at Hinckley United�s Greene King Stadium. �I was like a little boy who comes running home from school to tell his parents he has been picked for the school team. Ten minutes into the game the Scunthorpe right-back came over and said �great to have you back� and shook my hand. Later on I had to caution him!
�People in football have been fantastic. Sir Alex and Ars�ne, Sam Allardyce, Steve Bruce, David Moyes have contacted me. I even had a phone call yesterday from Neil Warnock. Would you believe it?! Phil Neville, Kevin Nolan and Gary Speed all sent me texts yesterday.�� Frank Lampard and John Terry wished him luck on his return.
�I have been given a game next Wednesday � Blackpool reserves and Rochdale reserves at Fleetwood. I will treat it exactly the same as if it was a game at Old Trafford. When I cross that white line, I am not Mark Halsey the cancer patient. I am Mark Halsey the referee. I don�t want players� sympathy. By me walking on that pitch I hope I can give hope to all those people who are suffering from cancer. Keep positive. Keep busy.
�On Dec 31 2008 my wife was diagnosed with myeloid leukaemia, which is treatable but not curable. Two days later I had to referee Hartlepool v Stoke in the FA Cup. On the pitch I kept thinking of her. When I gave a decision against Hartlepool a few fans had a right go at me and I looked at them and thought: �If only you knew�. People get very emotional about football but my illness has put the game and life into a different perspective.
��Of course I still care about football. I shall still get nervous before a game. But before, when I made a big decision, I used to think: �Christ I hope I�ve got that right.� And of course I shall still want to get big decisions right but I don�t think I shall worry about it as much. None of us want to be on Sky Sports News every hour because of a mistake we have made. So we all worry � but perhaps we worry too much.��