Within two years, he was officiating in Europe, as he took charge of the friendly fixture between Northern Ireland and Denmark at Windsor Park, Belfast, on 23 March 1986, which ended 1-1.
[4] Gifford ruled that this was fair (correctly following guidelines for the Laws of that era), and it proved to be the only goal of the game.‡ A few days later, he took charge of the most senior European tie of his career, as R.F.C.
He was included as one of the referees for the new Premier League which started the following season (1992–93), his first match in the competition being the 2–1 win over Middlesbrough by Southampton at The Dell on 29 August 1992.
Whilst still officiating in the Premier League on 1 February 1995, he issued the fastest ever red card (at that time)[9] when Blackburn goalkeeper Tim Flowers was dismissed after 72 seconds of the match, for a foul on Brian Deane of Leeds United during the 1–1 draw at Ewood Park.
In May 2024, he was found guilty of the same offences related to post-match comments following the Newport County AFC v Barnet FC FA Cup match on 2 December 2023 where he was working as the PGMOL referee observer, and suspended from all football and football-related activity for five months, fined £400 and ordered to attend a mandatory face-to-face education programme.