Dilkes became a Football League linesman in 1980 and reached the Referees List just three years later at the age of thirty four.
He did not achieve FIFA status - he may have been unlucky in that only one vacancy occurred during his most eligible years.
Dilkes was nevertheless chosen as one of the first set of Premier League referees for the 1992–93 season, and he retained this position for the final five years of his career.
[1] Two years later he officiated in a League Cup semi-final second leg as Leeds United overcame Birmingham City.
[2] The following year he took charge of an FA Cup quarter-final between Sheffield Wednesday and Wimbledon[3] before retiring at the end of the 1996–97 campaign.