Phil Bentham (born 28 October 1971) is Head of Match Officials at the RFL and a former Premier League football VAR coach.
He has also refereed in the 2014 Four Nations final in Wellington, New Zealand[4] On 4 May 2012, Bentham was refereeing the Super League clash between Wigan Warriors and Hull Kingston Rovers at the DW Stadium live on Sky Sports, when he collided during an off-the-ball incident with Rovers' Shannon McDonnell after 17 minutes, and suffered a fractured tibia.
On 16 May 2015, Bentham was refereeing Leeds Rhinos versus Huddersfield Giants at Headingley Carnegie Stadium live on BBC when he did not return after the half time interval due to a hamstring injury.
Touch Judge Jonathan Roberts replaced Bentham in the middle as he was the most senior referee having experience in the Championship and League 1 competitions.
[12] On 16 February 2018, Bentham was refereeing Widnes Vikings versus Warrington Wolves at the Halton Stadium live on Sky Sports when Chris Houston collided with him causing him to hit the ground heavily, landing on his back and the 'ref cam' equipment.