Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris plans to referee more football matches in Northern Ireland

In an interview this week with BBC Sport, the 54-year-old said that his 41 years as a football referee has kept him sane.

On Saturday the secretary of state refereed an Under 11s game in Hillsborough and said he is discussing taking charge of more matches with the Irish FA.

Mr Heaton-Harris, explaining how he became an FA-qualified referee, said: "My dad's best friend happened to be a Fifa referee in England, a guy called Ray Lewis.

"He came to see me play when I was 10 or 11 in a little league like this, realised I was absolutely rubbish so he sent me the little black book with the match record cards.

"I took a course and that was it. I've been going ever since. Football has done wonders for me throughout my life so I would recommend it to everybody."

"I didn't realise in my first game that you actually get a match fee,” he told BBC Sport.

“This guy came into the changing room with a little wage packet in a brown paper envelope with eight quid in it. He gave it to me and I thought I was being bribed."

He said being a ref keeps him sane and helps with his political career: "You go into the clubhouse afterwards, you get to talk and you get to know way more about what is going on than sometimes you would get from a piece of paper and briefings.

"It has genuinely given me some really great insights, normally after they stop swearing at you in the bar."