Boreham Wood beat high-flying Macclesfield at Moss Rose to push into the top half of the National League.

All afternoon it was Scott Flinders in the home goal who was the busier. However Kingsley James also went close for the Silkmen with a shot that whistled just wide.
It was clear that Macclesfield, despite their good recent form, were failing to impose themselves. They were punished midway through the second half when Boreham Wood were awarded a penalty and Kenny Davis slotted home.
Danny Woodards headed in from a late corner to seal the victory.
Report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Macclesfield Town 0, Boreham Wood 2.
Second Half ends, Macclesfield Town 0, Boreham Wood 2.
Substitution, Boreham Wood. Aaron Kuhl replaces Danny Uchechi.
Substitution, Boreham Wood. Anthony Jeffrey replaces Bruno Andrade.
Goal!  Macclesfield Town 0, Boreham Wood 2. Morgan Ferrier (Boreham Wood).
Goal!  Macclesfield Town 0, Boreham Wood 1. Kenny Davis (Boreham Wood) converts the penalty with a.
David Fitzpatrick (Macclesfield Town) is shown the yellow card.
Substitution, Macclesfield Town. David Fitzpatrick replaces Mitch Hancox.
Substitution, Macclesfield Town. Jack Mackreth replaces Neill Byrne.
Substitution, Boreham Wood. Adriano Moke replaces Conor Clifford.
Second Half begins Macclesfield Town 0, Boreham Wood 0.
First Half ends, Macclesfield Town 0, Boreham Wood 0.
Substitution, Macclesfield Town. Andy Halls replaces Ollie Norburn.
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.


A leading bookmaker is refusing to take bets on which artist will record the next James Bond theme song after one customer tried to place a £15,000 wager on Radiohead being selected.

"Nobody risks £15,000 on a hunch," said a spokesman for William Hill, who make the band 6/4 favourites to get the gig.
Ladbrokes, Coral and Paddy Power have also suspended betting.
A spokesman for Radiohead said he had "no comment" on whether the band would be performing the Spectre title track.
Bond star Daniel Craig is known to be a Radiohead fan, having quizzed frontman Thom Yorke for Interview magazine in 2013.
Speculation about whom will sing the song has been feverish in recent days, with Ellie Goulding emerging as another favourite.
The star posted a photo on Monday that appeared to hint she had been chosen.
"That's a wrap!" the singer wrote on Instagram, next to a photograph of her leaving Abbey Road studios in London.
The historic recording facility was where Adele recorded the title track for Skyfall, the previous James Bond film, in 2012.
The Showbiz 411 website reported on Tuesday that Goulding had registered a song called Spy with music rights organisation BMI, a song it suggested was the theme song for Spectre.
According to NME, though, a spokesman for the singer later confirmed she had been working on her new studio album at Abbey Road.
"The first gamble of the day was Ellie Goulding and punters were backing her as if she already had the gig," said William Hill's Rupert Adams on Tuesday.
"But just as we were thinking of pulling the plug we had a load of bets for Radiohead, including one customer who asked to place a £15,000 bet on the band at 10/1."
If Yorke's band are chosen to record the title track for Spectre, it would be the first group to sing a James Bond title song this century.
The last band to have that honour was Garbage, who performed the title track for The World is Not Enough, in 1999.
The makers of Spectre have yet to announce who will sing the song, though director Sam Mendes has confirmed a song has been recorded.
"It's fantastic and I'm very excited about it," he told BBC Radio's Test Match Special. "You won't have to wait long."
Sam Smith, another mooted candidate, denied rumours he would be singing the theme tune earlier this month.
"People seem to think I'm doing it but I have no idea what's going on," he told Capital FM. "I think I would know by now."
A spokeswoman for Coral told the BBC the bookmaker had decided to suspend betting on Tuesday following Goulding's cryptic hint.
A spokesman for Paddy Power said it had not accepted any bets since Mendes' confirmation that an artist had been chosen, while Ladbrokes' spokeswoman said it suspended betting last week.
"We're no 007, but money talks, and with Ellie proving to be punters' Bond girl of choice we had no option but to suspend betting on her recording Spectre's theme song," said Ladbrokes' Jessica Bridge.


It's still more than a month before Donald Trump takes the oath of office, but it's not too early to think about the challenges he will face in the White House.

The new president will have formidable assets at his disposal. The chief executive has broad unilateral powers, and his party controls both chambers of Congress. As long as Republicans stay unified, they will be able to advance a broad range of conservative priorities that have been on the back-burner for more than a decade.
The danger, however, is that they could choose a losing battle - or a winning one whose victory comes at too high a price.
The history books are littered with presidents whose electoral mandates crumbled in the early days of their presidency. Barack Obama and Democrats saw their large governing majorities in 2009 vanish two years later after a bruising fight to pass healthcare reform.
A push for universal healthcare also cost Bill Clinton dearly in 1993. George HW Bush's presidency ran aground, in part, due to tax concessions he made to Democrats in the 1990 budget negotiations. Ronald Reagan's tax reforms early in his presidency sank his approval ratings before an economic recovery changed his fortunes.
As Mr Trump looks ahead to his presidency, there are countless opportunities - but the path to success is a veritable minefield, where one false step could lead to ruin.
Here's a look at five particularly dangerous potential pitfalls.
Donald Trump campaigned on repealing Barack Obama's healthcare reform programme, and the Republican Congress seems eager to follow through (timeline to be determined, of course).
What Mr Trump didn't campaign on, and yet congressional Republican leadership seems enamoured with, was any kind of modification or privatisation of the government-run healthcare programme for the elderly, Medicare.
In fact, Mr Trump was quite clear that he wouldn't touch the social safety net that provides retirement and medical care for the poor, disabled and elderly.
"Every Republican wants to do a big number on Social Security, they want to do it on Medicare, they want to do it on Medicaid," candidate Trump said at a Republican forum in 2015. "And it's not fair to the people that have been paying in for years and now all of the sudden they want to be cut."
Yet changing Medicare from a government-run, single-payer programme to a state-managed voucher-backed premium support system has long been a goal of House Speaker Paul Ryan.
"Medicare has got some serious problems because of Obamacare," Mr Ryan said a few days after Mr Trump was elected. "Those things are part of our plan to replace Obamacare."
Mr Ryan is the leader of a segment of conservatives who view Medicare as a means of fostering dependence on government - a fortified expansion of centralised power that presents a growing financial burden on the federal budget.
The challenge for Republicans, however, is that, unlike the heavily politicised Obamacare reforms, Medicare is immensely popular. A 2015 poll found 60% of Americans viewed the programme as "working well", and 77% said the programme was "very important".
Back in 2004, newly re-elected President George W Bush and a Republican-controlled Congress made a similar run at privatising Social Security, the government-managed retirement programme.
Those efforts collapsed without so much as a legislative vote, thanks to withering opposition from Democrats and a sceptical public. It marked the beginning of Mr Bush's sharp decline in popularity that culminated in sweeping Democratic victories in the 2006 mid-term elections and President Obama in 2008.
Ann Coulter, a fervent Trump backer, succinctly summed up the shape of the pitfall that now may await her party.
"Medicare IS NOT WHAT THE ELECTION WAS FOUGHT OVER," she tweeted. "If Ryan wants to change Medicare, then run for president on that and see how far you get."
Mind the mine: Misinterpreting your mandate for change is classic post-election overreach danger.
Although he didn't regularly dwell on it at his campaign rallies, candidate Trump had a fairly detailed tax-cut plan. Perhaps the reason for his reticence was that the benefits - according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center - would be showered primarily on the wealthy.
The average tax cut was pegged at $2,940 per person, amounting to an after-tax income increase of 4.1%. Those earning over $3.7m, however, would receive a tax cut of roughly $1.1m, for an after-tax income boost of 14%.
During the first presidential debate, Hillary Clinton called this "trumped up trickle-down economics" - the theory, first embraced by President Ronald Reagan, that the benefits of tax cuts for the rich would eventually filter onto the lower-income brackets through increased spending.
The label didn't stick (and was, in fact, mocked as being forced), but the attacks may sting if they accompany hard figures in legislation signed by the man who won the White House as a champion of the working class.
There's some sign that the forthcoming Trump administration may already be backing away from this particular political landmine - and heading toward a new one, instead.
During a recent interview Treasury Secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin said that any tax reform would be benefit-neutral for the wealthy.
"Any reductions we have in upper-income taxes will be offset by less deductions, so that there will be no absolute tax cut for the upper class," he said.
While that sounds inoffensive, the two biggest individual tax deductions are also two of the most beloved by the American middle class - for home mortgage interest and charitable donations. Any politicians, Republican or Democrat, touch those at their political peril.
Mind the mine: Mr Trump campaigned against a moneyed global elite. If they reap the rewards of Republican tax reforms, he may lose some of his populist lustre.
One of the ways Mr Trump framed himself as a different kind of Republican presidential candidate was by condemning his party's military adventurism.
Where just a decade earlier his party had marched in lockstep behind George W Bush in defending the Iraq War, now Mr Trump stood on a Republican primary debate stage, condemned the action as misguided and won.
He said Libyan intervention was a mistake and that the US should let Russia shoulder more of the military burden in Syria. While he criticised Chinese trade practices, he said US allies in Asia must shoulder more of the costs of their own defence.
Positions like these were largely why the Republican foreign policy establishment abandoned the Trump campaign in droves and why the president-elect has seemed hard-pressed to settle on a nominee for secretary of state.
One man already on the Trump White House team, however, is retired General Michael Flynn - and he appears to support the kind of robust, interventionist foreign policy that Mr Trump dismissed.
In his recent book, The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies, the man who is tabbed to become Mr Trump's national security adviser writes that the US is already fighting a global war.
"We face a working coalition that extends from North Korea and China to Russia, Iran, Syria, Cuba, Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua," he writes. "We are under attack, not only from nation-states directly, but also from Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Isis and countless other terrorist groups."
If Mr Flynn is joined on Mr Trump's foreign policy team by someone like John Bolton - an Iraq War architect whose name has been linked to the secretary of state job - President Trump may be considerably more hawkish on foreign policy than Candidate Trump ever was.
Mind the mine: The American public will follow a president into battle, but war is also an easy way to destroy a presidency. Just ask George W Bush. Or Lyndon Johnson. Or Harry Truman.
Mr Trump turned heads this week when he sat down with former Democratic Vice-President Al Gore to discuss climate change and global environmental issues.
He shocked many of his conservative backers a few weeks earlier when, after meeting with Mr Obama, he expressed support for some portions of the president's healthcare reform.
During the campaign he unveiled a childcare and maternity leave proposal that, in the words of conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer, "out-Democrats the Democrats".
In other words, Mr Trump - who was a Democrat as recently as 2009 - has shown a proclivity for entertaining issues and positions that run counter to Republican orthodoxy.
There's certainly an upside for being a president who's willing to buck his own party and reach across the aisle for support. It was at the heart of Bill Clinton's "triangulation" strategy during his presidency, when he adopted and moderated popular Republican positions on welfare reform and crime-fighting to boost his own standing.
Such a course comes with its own set of risks, however, particularly for someone like Mr Trump. Embracing a liberal position could jeopardise his Republican backing in Congress and among the party's grass-roots supporters. Even with his best efforts, however, he will be hard-pressed to attract much love from the political left. His divisive presidential campaign has made him too much of a villain among Democrats for that to happen.
Mind the mine: Only Nixon could go to China, as the saying goes. Mr Trump could decide to break the partisan logjam and advance a popular progressive priority. Then again, when Nixon became mired in scandal, he was left with few Republican allies to protect him. It's not a happy place for a president to be.
Doing nothing
These possible pitfalls are enough to make even the most self-confident of politicians unsteady, reluctant to make a move lest they find the political ground crumbling beneath their feet.
Inaction is not an option for Mr Trump, however. He was elected to get results.
His supporters were so frustrated by years of partisan gridlock that they turned to an outsider - a political novice - in hopes of fixing a system they saw as hopelessly broken. More of the same is a losing proposition.
Mr Trump will have to find some policy wins if he wants to renew his lease on the White House in four years, and a few token wins - a saved Carrier plant here, a slightly less costly Air Force One contract there - likely won't cut it.
Mind the mine: If Trump does too much, he could be ruined. If he does too little, he could be ruined. He already has the lowest recorded popularity of any incoming White House occupant. There's a minefield ahead no matter which way he turns. Presidenting is hard.


For anyone who enjoys shopping, Westfield will be a familiar name.

The shopping centre giant owns malls across the world and attracted some 400 million customers last year.
Westfield may now be a global brand, but the company's roots are in Australia, where it opened its first shopping centre in Sydney's western suburbs in the late 1950s.
It expanded into the US in the 1970s before moving into New Zealand in the 1990s and the UK the following decade.
Despite its rapid growth, when Westfield first came to the UK there was scepticism about whether its huge shopping malls would be successful.
Co-chief executive Steven Lowy, who runs the firm with his brother Peter, said the assumption was that Britons preferred the High Street and this style of shopping simply would not suit the UK.
It was a view that was swiftly proved wrong.
"Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City - two buildings that eight years ago didn't exist - today can do twice as much business as Harrods and Selfridges and have 70 million customers through in a year," he says.
The firm's global operations became so large that in 2014 Westfield split into two separate companies to manage its domestic and international businesses.
Created by Hungarian immigrant Frank Lowy, the father of Steven and Peter, the story of the firm's rise from a single suburban mall to one of the world's biggest shopping centre operators is one that contradicts author Donald Horne's description of Australia as "the lucky country".
Horne's book of the same name may sound like a compliment, but was actually an indictment of 1960s Australia. His criticism was that the country had mainly profited from its abundant natural resources rather than entrepreneurialism.
It's a description that Mr Lowy rejects: "I think there is a misunderstanding of Australia. We have a much deeper basis for economic growth than simply the commodities or mining cycles that take place."
Ahmed Fahour, boss of Australia Post, believes that the country's roots mean its people are inherently entrepreneurial.
"Only 2.6% of our total population is indigenous, everybody else is [descended from] a migrant to this country. People came into this country basically with nothing and they had to build something, they had to create something."
As a result he believes Australians are naturally good at adapting to change, noting that farming - one of the country's original industries - has to deal with the capricious weather and global competition on prices creating a natural resilience.
It's a quality Mr Fahour has had to put to the test at the 208-year-old postal firm.
Like many postal services, Australia Post has seen the number of letters sent decline sharply as people use email instead, meaning the biggest part of its business is now parcels, driven by online shopping.
To help its staff cope with the transition, the firm has implemented a programme called Post People 1st, which means that divisions enjoying growth - such as parcels or retail - cannot recruit externally until they have considered colleagues working in shrinking parts of the business.
To help those who want to move it also provides training. The scheme has proved a great success, with some 6,000 staff - a significant number in a company of 50,000 - managing to switch into a new job in a growing part of the business over the past 18 months.
"That's the promise that we made. We said just because letters are declining it doesn't mean we have to lose our people," Mr Fahour said.
Similarly, Australian online recruitment firm Seek has continued to evolve from its 18-year-old origins as a marketplace for job hunters.
The firm now offers advice on education and online courses and has moved beyond Australia to several other countries including China, the Philippines, Singapore and South Africa.
Chief executive Andrew Bassat believes there is a risk that Australia's relative isolation geographically means firms' ambitions can be too local.
"So many companies try to have the small patch of turf in the Australian market. It feels like a zero sum game to some extent," he says.
When the firm started out in China it lost money for the first six years, partly because it took time to deal with the differences compared with the Australian market, says Mr Bassat.
Seek now works with local management teams in Asia rather than deploy its own Australian executives to improve its cultural understanding.
The company's perseverance eventually paid off, as its Asian operations are now profitable.
Mr Bassat believes with globalisation that more Australian firms will have to make a similar effort, noting that advances in technology have resulted in increased competition from foreign firms such as Amazon and Facebook.
"A lot of American companies and the European companies don't get Asia. They just assume that the model that will fly in the US or Europe will roll into Asia," he says.
"Australian companies understand you need to adjust to a much greater extent. And so Australians that have gone in thoughtfully have often been successful. I would like to see more Australians try."
Martin Hosking, chief executive of online art marketplace Redbubble, goes one step further, arguing that Australians must be far more ambitious. He is critical of the country's so-called "tall poppy syndrome" - a tendency to disparage high achievers.
"There's a little bit in the Australian mindset about getting enough to go to Byron Bay and go surfing for the last 40 years of your life," he said.
"If you're trying to scale a global company you cannot be too big. A billion is not enough, 10 billion is not enough, 100 billion is not enough. You have to have the ambitions to be truly global and do it at a significant level ... it is something which Australia has to embrace."
This feature is based on interviews by CEO coach and author Steve Tappin for the BBC's CEO Guru series, produced by Neil Koenig.


A woman who says she is "desperately unhappy" in her 39-year marriage is fighting a legal battle against a court's refusal to grant her divorce.

Tini Owens, 66, has asked the Court of Appeal to overturn a family court ruling, which said she couldn't divorce her husband Hugh Owens, 78.
The court heard her case was that the marriage had broken down, but Mr Owens disagreed and said the couple still had a "few years" to enjoy.
A ruling is yet to be published.
Judge Robin Tolson ruled against Mrs Owens in the family court last year, concluding that her allegations were "of the kind to be expected in marriage" and refused to grant a divorce petition.
Three appeal judges, led by Sir James Munby, the most senior family court judge in England and Wales, analysed the case at a hearing in London on Tuesday.
Philip Marshall QC, representing Mrs Owens, told the court that the "vast majority" of divorces were undefended in 21st Century England.
He said: "It is extraordinarily unusual in modern times for a court to dismiss a petition for divorce."
The court was told the couple had married in 1978 and lived in Broadway, Worcester.
Mr Marshall said Judge Tolson had failed to make "proper findings of fact" and argued that his ruling should be overturned.
Mrs Owens had made 27 allegations about the way Mr Owens treated her, including that he was "insensitive" in his "manner and tone" and said she was "constantly mistrusted" and felt unloved.
"The simple fact is that I have been desperately unhappy in our marriage for many years," she said in a witness statement.
"There is no prospect of reconciliation."
Mr Owens, a retired businessman, disagreed and denied allegations made against him.
Mr Marshall said judges had to consider the "cumulative effect" of what might be classed as a long list of trivial matters.
"It was my client's complaint that her husband treated her in a childlike way," Mr Marshall told judges.
"And in a way which was effectively that she should agree with his will."
Barrister Nigel Dyer QC, who represented Mr Owens, said appeal judges should not overturn Judge Tolson's ruling.
He said: "At the moment, as the law stands, unhappiness, discontent, disillusionment are not facts which a petitioner can rely upon as facts which prove irretrievable breakdown."
Judges were told that Mrs Owens had an affair which lasted less than a year and the court heard the couple, who have grown-up children, slept in different rooms.
Sir James said the judges would examine legislation laid down by Parliament and told lawyers: "It is not a ground for divorce if you find yourself in a wretchedly unhappy marriage - people may say it should be."
Specialist divorce lawyer Ayesha Vardag said judges should not compel people to stay married.
"This case highlights the absurdity of fault-based divorce," she said.
"If a party is willing to go to the Court of Appeal to fight for a divorce, spending significant sums on the way, there is clearly no future for the marriage."
She said it was "beyond archaic" that it should have to be proved to a judge.


Edinburgh Airport contributes nearly £1bn to the Scottish economy annually and supports more than 23,000 jobs, a new report has suggested.

Consultancy firm Biggar Economics was asked by Edinburgh Airport to look at the site's economic impact.
It is Scotland's busiest airport and handles more than 11 million passengers a year.
The study predicted that by 2020 it would be worth between £1.1bn and £1bn GVA per year.
The report considered both the direct and indirect benefits of having an airport in Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh.
As well as looking at value of airport operations and on-site shops and food and drink outlets, Biggar also considered the money generated off-site in hotels and car parks and the contribution to the tourism and freight sector.
Key findings included:
Gordon Dewar, Edinburgh Airport's chief executive, said: "Edinburgh Airport is an increasingly important economic asset for the country as a whole, and these figures demonstrate just how important a competitive airport is for a country with Scotland's ambition and international profile
"Our growth in recent years has been supported by one of the largest private investments of its kind in national infrastructure, to build new facilities and attract an unprecedented number of new, direct international connections to Scotland
"The result, as the Biggar report shows, is nearly £1bn of economic value and a social impact that extends to more than 20,000 jobs. Those figures will increase and by 2020, we could be supporting twice as many jobs as we do now."
Earlier this month, Edinburgh Airport reported its busiest February on record - handling 770,265 passengers.
Last year the airport ran a trial of a new flight path in a bid to find a way for planes to depart every minute at peak times instead of every two minutes.
Campaigners opposed to the plan have raised concerns about noise levels and vowed to "fight it all the way".


A policeman has been shot dead in the Venezuelan capital Caracas after security forces broke up protest camps, officials say.

President Nicolas Maduro said the officer was killed by a sniper and branded the protesters "murderous".
More than 240 people were arrested after the pre-dawn raids on four camps in the east of the capital.
Since anti-government protests began in February, more than 40 people have been killed, and thousands more arrested.
"A sniper killed the policeman while he was cleaning debris left by these violent, murderous protesters," a sombre Mr Maduro said during a televised address.
"He was vilely killed," he added.
Three other policemen were wounded, one by gunfire, Venezuelan media reported.
Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez said police had found "drugs, weapons, explosives and mortars" in the camps.
The violence erupted after raids by members of the National Guard broke up four tent camps maintained by student activists.
Hundreds of demonstrators poured on to the streets and set up barricades. Masked youths threw stones and petrol bombs, while police responded with tear gas.
Witnesses said shots were fired from buildings into the streets, but this could not be confirmed.
Mr Rodriguez said 243 protesters had been detained and that the authorities were currently determining whom to charge.
He said protesters had used the camps as bases to launch "violent attacks", after which they would "hide... saying they were taking part in a peaceful protest".
Earlier this week, the pressure group Human Rights Watch accused Venezuelan security forces of illegally detaining and abusing protesters.
Demonstrations were triggered by frustration with Venezuela's high crime rates and poor economic situation but have grown into a wider anti-government movement.
Students have been at the forefront of the protests, erecting barricades and organising demonstrations and sit-ins.
The government has labelled the protesters "fascist agitators", accusing them of fomenting a coup against the left-wing government of President Maduro "with US backing".


Swindon Town midfielders Drissa Traore and Jeremy Balmy have apologised after appearing to inhale nitrous oxide in a live social media video.

The duo and Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill were suspended by the club after images emerged on Wednesday appearing to show them taking the legal high, commonly known as laughing gas, via balloons.
Traore, 24, said on Twitter that he "begged for forgiveness".
Balmy, 21, added: "I am already learning from this mistake."
All three will miss Swindon's League One trip to Bradford City on Saturday as they look to end a run of six games without a win.
Between 2006 and 2012, 17 people in the UK died after taking nitrous oxide.
A new law designed to crack down on legal highs was set to come into force but has been delayed.
Then Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers said he would speak to England forward Raheem Sterling, now at Manchester City, after he was pictured allegedly inhaling nitrous oxide in 2015.
Drissa Traore: "I take this opportunity to apologise to all of my team-mates, staff and fans of Swindon Town.
"I have made a stupid decision which is well documented and I beg for forgiveness.
"I have let myself, my family and more importantly brought Swindon Town's name into the news for the wrong reasons.
"I accept the decision of Swindon Town and any punishment to come, but it has hit me hard.
"Being unable to do the thing I love as a footballer and not being able to prove myself on the pitch and repay the faith of Swindon is already hurting.
"I hope I can soon be back in the shirt and show how much the club, fans and my team-mates mean to me.
"Sorry I cannot be a part of the team tomorrow, good luck to the boys."
Jeremy Balmy: "I would like to apologise to Swindon, to all of our fans and to the team for our silly behaviour from the other night. I am already learning from his mistake.
"We do not undermine our results at all. I am sincerely sorry.
"I hope my apologies will be accepted and I'll make sure not to misbehave or be disrespectful ever again. All my support to my team for tomorrow."


The Ulster Unionists were the only party in Northern Ireland to make gains in the general election.

Danny Kinahan took South Antrim from the DUP's William McCrea. Tom Elliott ousted Sinn Féin's Michelle Gildernew in Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
The DUP has won eight seats, Sinn Féin four, the SDLP held its three seats and one independent MP was elected.
The UUP's two seats means a return to the Commons for the first time in five years, having had no MPs since 2010.
The Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt said the Fermanagh and South Tyrone seat had been an election priority.
"After the local government [election] last year I took my blank page for this campaign and what I wanted at number one was to win back for unionism, off Sinn Féin, the most westerly constituency in the United Kingdom, because that sends out a massive positive message to unionism."
In 2010, Sinn Féin had held on to the seat by just four votes, but this time the UUP won with a majority of 530 votes.
The Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency was one of four where there was an electoral pact between the UUP and DUP, the two main unionist parties in Northern Ireland.
DUP leader Peter Robinson said: "I trust that our two parties, the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party, can work in the interests of the union at Westminster, because the union is going to be under pressure from Scottish nationalists.
"Of course we will act responsibly, as a unionist I obviously want to see the interests of the United Kingdom moving forward and of course as someone from Northern Ireland I want to see it happening in the best interests of the people of Northern Ireland."
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said his party had consolidated its vote.
"In many constituencies we faced a unionist pact held together by opposition to change, opposition to equality and in support of a union that is imposing austerity," he said.
"This was most evident in Fermanagh and South Tyrone where all shades of unionism combined with the Tory party to unseat a republican woman."
The DUP has regained the East Belfast seat lost five years ago by its party leader.  This time, Gavin Robinson took the seat from Alliance's Naomi Long.
Mr Robinson, who polled 19,575, said: "I'm delighted that the last five long years are over."
He added: "When people of East Belfast were asked to vote for a shared future, they chose to share that future with somebody they can trust, rather than back a party that are only interested in offering us a future if we share their view".
Alliance leader David Ford said Mr Robinson's acceptance speech was the "nastiest" of all such speeches across the UK.
"Naomi had a fantastic personal vote, a very solid recognition of her work," he said.
On Friday, Gavin Robinson said: "I think Naomi Long is a formidable politician - I didn't say it in my speech last night, as I say, I'm reflecting this morning it's been long and difficult."
Despite the East Belfast result, the Alliance Party's Stephen Farry said: "Obviously we're very disappointed for Naomi personally and obviously we would have liked to win the [East Belfast] seat, but overall the results are actually very good for Alliance.
"We've actually had our biggest ever share of the vote in Northern Ireland in any election since 1992, almost 25 years.
"In virtually every constituency, indeed I think in every constituency across Northern Ireland, our share of the vote went up."
Analysis
BBC NI Political Editor Mark Devenport
After five years in the Westminster wilderness, the Ulster Unionists are the comeback kids of this election. Mike Nesbitt's strategy had seemed risky -  asking his supporters to back the DUP in some seats, but taking their old rivals head-on elsewhere.
But in the end the gamble paid off with two new Ulster Unionist MPs the reward.
The DUP compensated for the loss of Willie McCrea by recapturing East Belfast. Alliance may find solace in Naomi Long's increased vote, but in a first past the post election, winning is all that counts.
That's the same reality facing Michelle Gildernew, unable to defend the most marginal seat against the UUP.
With the Conservatives winning a narrow majority, Northern Ireland's MPs won't be kingmakers. But the 11 unionist and 3 SDLP members could still play an intriguing role in what remains a finely balanced House of Commons.
In South Antrim, Ulster Unionist Danny Kinahan, who is a cousin of the Irish singer Chris de Burgh, ousted the DUP's Willie McCrea.
Mr Kinahan put his victory down to "hard work and the people of South Antrim putting their faith in me".
"I think they wanted somebody who was from the patch, who was here all the time and they wanted change," he said.
"I think there was a mood here in South Antrim to have someone different and a different approach to how politics is done."
It was the first shock result of the night in Northern Ireland.
The defeated candidate, Mr McCrea, was first elected as an MP in 1983.
The first result of the night was Lagan Valley with Jeffrey Donaldson holding his seat for the DUP with 19,055 votes.
Mark Durkan, SDLP, was returned in Foyle with 17,725 votes and Pat Doherty, Sinn Féin, was returned in West Tyrone with 16,806 votes.
Ian Paisley, DUP, retained his North Antrim seat with 18,107 votes.
Jim Shannon, DUP, was returned in Strangford with 15,053 votes while Lady Sylvia Hermon, independent, retained her seat in North Down.
David Simpson, DUP, has held his seat in Upper Bann, with 15,430 votes. It was a constituency targeted by the Ulster Unionist's Jo-Anne Dobson who polled 13,166.
Sammy Wilson of the DUP was re-elected in East Antrim. Paul Maskey was re-elected for Sinn Féin in West Belfast.
Nigel Dodds held the North Belfast seat for the DUP with 19,096 votes, the fourth time he has been re-elected.
In South Belfast, SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell, retained his seat with 9,560 votes.
"On the doorsteps what I was getting was an indictment of the two main parties [the DUP and Sinn Féin] and equally issues about employment, health and education," he said.
"This was a tight election and quite honestly you get votes on the doorsteps and I was on the doorsteps day and night and I knew I had to fight for every vote and I fought for every vote."
Francie Molloy held his seat for Sinn Féin in Mid Ulster polling 19,935.
In East Londonderry, the DUP's Gregory Campbell was re-elected with 14,663 votes.
The SDLP's Margaret Ritchie regained her seat in South Down with 18,077 votes.
The last result of the night was Mickey Brady who won Newry and Armagh for Sinn Féin with 20,488 votes.
There were a total of 138 candidates in Northern Ireland and 1.2m people were eligible to vote.
Overall, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) stood in 16 constituencies while the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) stood in 15.
Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Alliance Party stood in all 18 constituencies.
The Green Party ran five candidates and UKIP ran in 10 seats.
Seven Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) candidates were selected.
The Conservative Party ran in 16 seats. The Workers Party fielded candidates in five constituencies.
People Before Profit fielded a candidate in West Belfast and CISTA (Cannabis is safer than alcohol) contested four constituencies.
There were five independent candidates.


Snow has brought fresh disruption to many parts of Northern Ireland, with a number of Translink bus services affected and many schools closed.

The Met Office says cold weather will continue throughout Thursday and it will remain very cold until the beginning of next week.
The wintry weather gave snowboarders a chance to take to the heights of Divis Mountain in Belfast.
Many parts of Belfast were affected by the snow, particularly those on higher ground.  Stevie Anderson's picture shows Woodvale Park at first light on Thursday morning.
The winter sun rises over the Glenshane Pass, as BBC cameraman Peter Jones captured this morning.
In Ballynure, Country Antrim, the snow made driving conditions difficult when several inches fell overnight.
Many parts of east Antrim experienced heavy snow and disruption, but it also gave Bob Farmbrough the opportunity to photograph the snow lying on the trees overlooking Carrickfergus.
Fields in Boardmills, County Down, were also covered with snow, as Dennis Sheridan's picture shows.
The snow also covered the peaks of the Mourne mountains, as this picture by Lauren Harte shows, taken from Newcastle.
BBC News reporter Julian Fowler took this image while filming, showing parts of the Clogher Valley in County Tyrone covered with snow.
The Met Office issued an amber weather warning for snow, which started falling on Wednesday evening. This picture by Philip Palmer was taken just under Dromore viaduct in County Down.


India has helped in evacuating 170 foreign nationals from 15 countries who were trapped by Nepal's earthquake in which more than 5,000 people are now known to have died.

India's government said commercial and air forces planes were used to take out the foreigners from Kathmandu.
The UN estimates that eight million people in 39 districts have been affected by the 7.8-magnitude quake.
More than 10,000 people have been injured.
"Friends in need," Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted, giving details of the foreign nationals evacuated.
The majority of the evacuated foreigners - 71 - are from Spain, which had asked India for help.
Other foreign nationals evacuated include citizens of Poland, the Czech Republic, the US, the UK, Germany and France.
There were an estimated 300,000 foreign tourists in Nepal, several hundred of those on Mount Everest, when the earthquake hit on Saturday.
India's disaster response teams and soldiers have also rescued more than 740 Nepalese nationals and its air force helicopters have evacuated 19 mountaineers from Lukla, the foreign ministry said.
India lost no time in sending aircraft to Kathmandu carrying disaster response forces, medical teams, food, medicines and rescue equipment following the quake.
Rescuers are still struggling to bring aid to remote Himalayan areas. Heavy rain is worsening the plight of hundreds of thousands of people camped out in the open.


The host of Fox News' most popular show has said his position makes him "vulnerable to lawsuits" after it emerged at least five women have accused him of harassment.

Bill O'Reilly released the statement after the New York Times reported he and his employer had paid the women a total of $13m (Â£10.3m).
In return, the paper says, they did not take their cases to court.
21st Century Fox says Mr O'Reilly, 67, denies wrongdoing.
In a statement published on his website, The O'Reilly Factor host said he was "vulnerable to lawsuits from individuals who want me to pay them to avoid negative publicity".
Mr O'Reilly added that "no-one has ever filed a complaint about me with the human resources department", and says he "put to rest any controversies to spare my children".
A statement from 21st Century Fox to the New York Times said: "While he denies the merits of these claims, Mr. O'Reilly has resolved those he regarded as his personal responsibility."
Two of the cases had been previously reported. However, the New York Times investigation discovered three more after conducting "more than five dozen interviews with current and former employees".
Two of the new cases were of a sexual nature and one alleged verbally abusive behaviour by O'Reilly.
The cases date back as far as 2002, and all the women were connected in some way to his show, the highest rated on the network, or worked for other programmes.
This is the second scandal to hit the channel in less than a year.
Its long-time boss Roger Ailes resigned in July after a number of female employees accused him of sexual harassment.


A "magnificent reminder" to the life of sporting icon Muhammad Ali has pride of place in a rugby club in west Wales.

For Carmarthen Athletic RFC has a pair of the boxer's boots in its sports memorabilia collection which belonged to former club stalwart Gwynne King Morgan.
Ali died last Friday in Arizona at the age of 74.
His funeral service takes place in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday.
His boots were presented to Mr Morgan in 1977 by the late Gerald Williams, the former BBC sports commentator who lived in Llangynog near Carmarthen.
He acquired them after interviewing Ali and his manager Angelo Dundee.
Club chairman Wynne Jones said: "Who would say that a little west Wales town has these magnificent reminders of a magnificent career?
"He was indeed the greatest."
The club also has a pair of boots belonging to Sir Henry Cooper who fought Ali.
Mr Jones said the the value of Ali's boots was not known and "not important".
"The whole ethos of the collection to us is that if somebody is kind enough to donate to us we respect the fact and they are perpetually on display."


The family of a mentally ill father who killed himself in prison have described his treatment there as "despicable".

Dean Saunders, 25, from Basildon, was taken to HMP Chelmsford in December after injuring relatives who tried to stop him stabbing himself.
They claim the decision not to detain him under the Mental Health Act and to withdraw continuous observation in prison contributed to his death.
The Ministry of Justice said the welfare of inmates was a top priority.
Mr Saunders' mother Donna said the way the prison service handled her son's case was "absolutely appalling".
His father, Mark, said his son "should never have gone to the prison in the first place".
Mr Saunders was arrested in December on suspicion of attempted murder after his father and brother were stabbed when they tried to stop him cutting his throat.
When he was taken to a police station, he again told a doctor he was going to kill himself.
But two psychiatrists he saw later were not made aware of his previous suicide attempt.
They were unable to make a referral for detention under the provisions of the Mental Health Act as Mr Saunders stated he was too tired to participate in an assessment.
This finding was disclosed in a report by The South Essex Partnership University NHS Trust (SEPT) which revealed he was suffering from severe paranoia when he told his girlfriend people were trying to harm him.
An initial assessment by SEPT staff decided he posed a risk of harming himself or others.
Mr Saunders' parents said when he was taken to Chelmsford Prison they made repeated attempts to alert staff to their son's intention to kill himself.
Mrs Saunders said she pleaded with staff to keep him on constant watch instead of switching to half-hourly observations.
Her son electrocuted himself in his cell on 4 January and his death is now subject to a report by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman.
According to the most recent Independent Monitoring Board report, there has been a 25% reduction in staffing at HMP Chelmsford.
Steve Gillen, General Secretary of the Prison Officer's Association, said: "It would appear Mr Saunders did have mental illness upon his arrival.
"We as a trade union have been on record as saying not enough is being done to divert mentally people from custody."
He added: "In 2010 at Chelmsford there were 142 self-harm incidents. By the end of 2015, there were 686 self-harm incidents.
"There's a direct contributory factor in all of this which is the budget cuts and reductions in staffing levels which leads to the tragic loss in life in prisons."
Ministry of Justice data shows since 2011 there have been 12 suicides at the category B local prison - the joint third highest number in England and Wales.
A spokesman said: "Every day our healthcare staff provide support to thousands of prisoners at risk of self-harm or suicide, frequently saving lives through timely intervention.
"But as the Prime Minister said earlier this year, we must improve the way mental health problems are dealt with in the criminal justice system.
"That is why we are investing Â£1.3bn to transform the prison estate, while also training staff to respond effectively to prisoners experiencing suicidal, self-harm and mental health issues."
Of the nine most recent Prison and Probation Ombudsman reports into suicides at HMP Chelmsford, six contain serious criticisms.
The investigations found repeated issues around suicide risk information not being shared or read, and inadequate monitoring.
This echoes the findings of last year's Harris Review into self-inflicted deaths in custody among 18-24 year olds, which concluded "lessons are clearly not being learned".  The PPO says it doesn't have the power to compel prisons to act on their investigation findings.
Chelmsford Prison suicides
4 January 2016 Dean Saunders, 25, electrocution
4 October 2015 Ben Cathorne, 28, hanging
4 September 2015 Warren Sampson, 29 [unknown]
3 March 2015 Tony Legge, 30, hanging
23 March 2014 Wayne Roe, 29, hanging
15 November 2013 Reece Taylor, 18, hanging
3 August 2013 Anthony Quigley, 55, self immolation
22 July 2013 Patrick McCarthy, 63, hanging
15 September 2012 Joseph Corcoran, 23, hanging
16 June 2012 Edward Tula, 20, hanging
4 July 2011 Tuan An Ho, 18, hanging
9 May 2011 Simon King, 30, hanging


Last year, Newsround reported many stories about the refugee crisis in Europe.

Millions of people - many of them children - were forced to leave where they lived because of fighting in the Middle East.
In particular, the conflict in Syria drove millions of people from their homes. It also meant lots of families got separated from each other.
Many travelled to Europe, in the hope that they might find a better life in a European country, with many hoping to come to the UK.
The leaders of European countries have had many discussions to try to decide how to deal with so many extra people, who are now in Europe but have nowhere to live.
Something called the Dubs Amendment formed part of how the UK said that it could help these refugees.
Find out more about what it is below.
Thousands of refugees fleeing across Europe ended up in Calais in north France, in a refugee camp known as the Jungle (which has now been shut down). Many came from Syria.
This is because they hoped to cross over to England from there, to start a new life in the UK.
While the Jungle was being used as a temporary home for thousands of people, there was a lot of worry about their safety - especially for children.
Countries around Europe discussed how they were going to deal with all of these people who had nowhere to live and who were living in awful conditions in the Jungle.
Some countries made promises about how many refugees they were going to take from the Jungle to live in their countries.
The UK parliament made a decision about how the UK could help, which was called the Dubs Amendment.
There is a piece of EU law, called the Dublin III regulation, that says that families have a right to stay together.
This means that refugees have a right to go to join family members if they are legally in another country, so the family can be with each other.
This meant that refugees living in Calais who had family members in the UK had a right to apply to come over here to join them.
But there were many unaccompanied children in the Calais camp, who did not have families here.
So the UK launched a scheme to enable a number of unaccompanied children to come to live safely in the UK - even if they did not have a straightforward family link here.
It was called the Dubs Amendment. It was named after a man who led the scheme being introduced, called Lord Alf Dubs.
He was a child refugee himself when he was younger, as he came over to the UK from Czechoslovakia when it was occupied by the Nazis during World War II.
His father was Jewish, and so he and his family were in danger because the Nazis wanted to kill Jewish people. The UK gave him somewhere safe to live as a young boy.
The Dubs Amendment did not make a promise about how many children could come to the UK.
But Lord Dubs and his supporters said the UK could help about 3,000 refugee children.
So far, around 200 children have come to the UK under the Dubs Amendment scheme.
But the government has recently announced that it will stop the scheme after another 150 are settled here.
They say that councils are not able to find homes for more children than this.
This means that 350 children will have come to the UK because of it - not 3,000, as Lords Dubs suggested was possible.
Many people think that the UK should let more children come to live here safely and that the government has not done what it said it would.
Lord Dubs himself said that by stopping the scheme like this, he felt the government had "gone back on their word".
But the government has said that the scheme only encourages more young people to make the dangerous journey across Europe in the hope they might be allowed to come to live here.
It has said that it is not giving up on these vulnerable children, because there are other schemes that can help them to come to the UK.


Spinner Imran Tahir's 5-98 on his Derbyshire debut has put the hosts in a good position against Durham.

Derbyshire, resuming on 332-9, were bowled out for 368 as Billy Godleman (98) and Gurjit Sandhu (46 not out) took their 10th-wicket stand to 102.
Led by Michael Richardson's 121-ball 64, Durham eased to 119-1 in reply.
After slipping to 137-5, Paul Coughlin (62 not out) led the recovery, but Tahir took two wickets in two balls as Durham closed 94 behind on 274-8.
Barry McCarthy (32 not out) has so far put on 69 with Coughlin for the ninth wicket - a partnership which helped Durham avoid the follow-on.


Leaving the EU would be the equivalent of imposing an additional "tax" of one month's income on UK workers, a leading economic international body has said.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said economic growth would be lower outside the EU as the UK could not negotiate a "sweeter" deal on trade and investment.
Vote Leave said the forecasts ignored the scope to negotiate new trade deals.
And UKIP's Nigel Farage said "markets, not failed politicians" decided trade.
The OECD, which represents 34 wealthy countries and seeks to promote economic co-operation, released its assessment of the economic consequences for the UK of leaving the EU as figures suggested the UK economy slowed in the first three months of the year.
Chancellor George Osborne said the estimated fall in GDP growth from 0.6% to 0.4% suggested the EU referendum on 23 June was "weighing" on the economy and that building projects and investments were being delayed by uncertainty over the outcome.
The OECD's research suggests leaving the EU would result in 3% lower economic growth than would otherwise be the case by 2020, rising to 5% in 2030 - costing households on average Â£3,200.
Its secretary general Angel Gurria told the BBC that he had no doubt that leaving would be a "bad decision" and expressed surprise that the UK was even contemplating such a move.
"Brexit is like a tax. It is the equivalent to roughly missing out on about one month's income within four years but then it carries on to 2030," the former Mexican politician told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"That tax is going to be continued to be paid by Britons over time."
Forecasts that growth rates would be lower-than-expected outside the EU were based on the assumption that there was "no kind" of trade deal that the UK could do "better by yourselves than you would be in the company of the Europeans".
"We have done the comparisons, we have done the simulations," he said.
"In the end we come out and say: why are we spending so much time, so much effort and so much talent in trying to find ways to compensate for a bad decision when you do not necessarily have to take the bad decision?
"This is not wishful thinking - which we believe that the Brexit camp in many cases has been assuming. There is absolutely no reason why you would get a sweeter trade deal than you already have, no reason why you would have a sweeter investment deal."
Mr Gurria has led the OECD since 2005. While serving in the Mexican government in the 1990s, Mr Gurria helped negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States having previously led two major banks.
The OECD's analysis echoes that of the Treasury, which has estimated that GDP would be 6% lower by 2030 and that this could leave households Â£4,300 worse off.
But economist and Leave campaigner Andrew Lillico said the figures were "very implausible" because they assumed that the UK would not be able to secure a trade deal of any kind with the EU before 2020 or preferential deals with other countries before 2023.
"That is just absurd," he told the BBC News Channel. "One of the main reasons we would leave the EU is in order to do new trade deals with the rest of the world, with Japan, Australia and other countries."
Given the OECD was predicating its research on a fall in immigration and a slowdown in population growth, he said the reality was that "once we are past the initial disruption there is no impact on GDP per person at all."
UKIP leader Nigel Farage told BBC Radio 4's Today organisations like the OECD and the IMF were staffed by "overpaid former politicians who failed mostly" and the UK would be "better off" by being able to trade freely outside the EU.
"These international bodies, there is virtually nobody working for them that has manufactured a good or traded a product globally.
"The fact is whether we are in or out of the EU, we will go on buying and selling goods between France, Germany, Britain and Italy because ultimately markets are not created by politicians, it is about consumers making choices."
Labour said there was a twin threat to the economy from "Conservative backbenchers screaming for Brexit despite the mounting evidence against the case" and from a government "refusing to listen to the expanding coalition of international organisations that not only warn of the risks of Brexit, but also the risks of under investing in our economy".


Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a fee of £11m for Southampton midfielder Victor Wanyama, BBC Radio Solent understands.

It is thought the 24-year-old Kenyan, who joined Saints in 2013 for £12.5m from Celtic, is poised to undergo a medical with the White Hart Lane club.
The move would reunite Wanyama with his former Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Wanyama asked to leave last summer after interest from Spurs but stayed at St Mary's and helped Southampton to a sixth-placed finish.
The imposing central midfielder made 85 league appearances for Saints, scoring four times.
If the deal goes through he will become Tottenham's first summer signing as they prepare for their return to the Champions League.
Wanyama signed for Celtic from Belgian club Germinal Beerschot for an undisclosed fee in July 2011 having moved to Europe from Kenya to join Helsingborg of Sweden in 2007.
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More than 100 wives and partners of police have protested in Paris against attacks on police following the killing of an officer on the Champs Elysees.

The Angry Police Wives group marched through the city two days after Xavier Jugelé was shot twice in the head by convicted criminal Karim Cheurfi.
Separately, police fired tear gas amid confrontations after a trade union demonstration in eastern Paris calling for a "social first round" of voting.
France goes to the polls on Sunday.
In another incident, French media said a man with a knife had been arrested at the Gare du Nord station. Police have not said if the incident is terrorism-related.
Candidates in the presidential election have been accused of exploiting the Champs Elysees attack politically.
Two other officers were wounded before Cheurfi was shot dead.
The killer had spoken about wanting to kill police but had had no apparent link to Islamist radicalism before the attack, prosecutors said. A note defending so-called Islamic State (IS) was found near his body.
At the end of the pro-police demonstration, marchers released black balloons signifying police killed in the line of duty and pink balloons for the families they left behind.
Some were carrying placards saying "don't touch my cop", a twist on a well-known French anti-racism slogan.
One placard also said "enough police officers killed and burned", referring not only to Mr Jugele's death but also a firebomb attack on a police car carrying four officers by suspected drug dealers in a poor suburb of Paris last October.
Two of the officers were seriously wounded in the attack.
Police officers have also been hurt in recent protests over allegations of police brutality.
Last month three officers were injured in protests after a Chinese man was shot dead by officers. In February protesters attacked a police station amid widespread anger over the alleged rape of a young black man by French police.
Police officer Xavier Jugelé, 37, was an active campaigner for gay rights, French media report. He was in a civil partnership and did not have children.
Originally from the Loire Valley region in central France, he had been serving in the capital since 2014, French daily Liberation writes (in French).
He was deployed on the night of the November 2015 attacks in Paris to the Bataclan concert hall, returning the following year on the night the venue reopened.
The BBC's Nick Garnett interviewed him at the time. "I want to celebrate life and say 'no' to terrorism," he told our reporter.
'I met murdered police officer at Bataclan'
You can follow the first round of the French election on the BBC News website. Click here for all our latest coverage. On the day of the election, we will be running a live page bringing together the latest news, video and analysis.
On TV, you can watch a BBC World News Election Special, from 18:30 BST (17:30 GMT / 19:30 local time in France) on Sunday, which will be broadcast on BBC News in the UK and on BBC World News internationally, with Christian Fraser presenting from Paris.
For radio, BBC World Service will broadcast a special extended edition of Newshour from Paris at 18:00 GMT on Sunday.


Fredrik Saker's driving licence does not look exceptional.

His severe face stares out from the plastic issued by the Swedish Transport Agency. It does not flatter him.
But it is highly unusual because the likeness on the licence is a self-portrait, not a photograph.
The 29-year-old Swedish artist  wanted to prove to himself that he was good enough to paint a work that could pass as a photograph.
And, as he told the BBC, his work now has an official seal of approval.
"I was a bit surprised but very satisfied when I received the licence.
"I was happy with the painting, but I was nervous. Perhaps it would not get through."
Mr Saker had studied the code of the Swedish Transport Board before he submitted his likeness.  It required a photo to be submitted that was a recent likeness. But nowhere did specify that the photograph had to be of the subject.
So Mr Saker thought a photograph of a self-portrait would do just as well.
The Swedish Transport Board told the newspaper Dagens Nyheter: "We have examined the original documents and compared them with his previous driving licence. The picture we have received looks like any other photo, so we have had no reason to question it."
To get the official stamp of approval, Mr Saker worked on his self-portrait for about 100 hours with brushes he termed ridiculously fine, with barely any bristles.
The technique may hark back to the art of the 16th Century miniaturists like Nicholas Hilliard, but Mr Saker's inspiration has been technology and questions of identity.
"The picture's title is 'This is not me'," he told the BBC, "after Magritte, whose 'Ceci n'est pas une pipe" sat beneath a picture of a pipe.
"Like Magritte, I want to question of what is true and what is false, and question what a picture or a photo actually is.
"Since I have a history of Alzheimer's (the most common form of dementia), strokes and other brain-related illnesses in my family, I know that the human mind and perception can change in a matter of seconds, and what appears true to one person can be exactly the opposite to someone else."
Another inspiration was the Norwegian-born artist, Kjartan Slettemark, who made a career through questions of identity and travelled round Europe in the 1970s on a passport in which his head and beard had been superimposed on a photograph of the US president, Richard Nixon.
For his licence, Mr Saker deliberately set out to paint himself as he is - on a bad day.
"I don't look good. My face is flushed and I am having a bad hair day.
"None of my friends ever says, 'Look at my driving licence, don't I look good?
"This picture is a milestone. It's a sign that my painting is getting better. Now I am embarking on another eight to 10 similar paintings. I start shooting a couple of people in the next couple of weeks and we will soon be reapplying for licences."
Mr Saker intends to exhibit all the paintings when they are completed, but for now, policemen can get a free viewing if ever they stop him on Sweden's roads.


Stormont should have the power to decide the number of migrants who can come to Northern Ireland to work in agri-food after the UK leaves the EU, according to an industry report.

It is one of the recommendations in a survey of major food processing companies.
Around 11,500 EU nationals currently work in food, mostly in the meat and vegetable sectors.
The Northern Ireland economy is heavily reliant on agri-food.
It is estimated to support 92,000 jobs, both directly and indirectly.
It generated Â£4.5bn in sales in 2014, a quarter of which was exported to EU countries, the bulk of it to the Irish Republic.
The report by the Northern Ireland Food and Drinks Association was carried out to assess the implications of  Brexit.
It says that, as well as setting the numbers, the responsibility for agreeing entry requirements for a "foreign labour pool" should also be devolved.
It added that if this does not happen, there is a risk some companies may relocate processing plants across the border to the Irish Republic, where free movement for EU nationals will continue.
Chair of NIFDA Declan Billington said the industry was "facing a period of great uncertainty".
He said his association was trying to help shape the plan for a post-EU market by highlighting areas of concern.
A huge amount of milk and meat crosses the border in both directions for processing.
The report, based on the responses of 39 companies, calls for a free trade agreement with Europe and the maintenance of the common travel area.
If a trade agreement proves difficult, tariff free quotas for key products should be put in place and there should be minimal disruption at the border for cross border trade, it said.


Formula 1's governing body the FIA has formally approved the return to the 2015 qualifying format in time for this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix.

Teams last week forced a U-turn from F1 bosses Jean Todt and Bernie Ecclestone, who had previously refused to back a return to the knock-out format.
This came after a new system proved a failure at the opening two races.
The FIA said on Monday the decision to revert to the old format had passed the phases of the legislative process.
That means it has now been approved unanimously by both the F1 Commission, on which there are representatives of all the teams, as well as sponsors, circuits and tyre supplier, and the FIA World Council.
On Thursday, Todt - the FIA president - and Ecclestone - the sport's commercial rights holder - backed down in the face of teams' opposition and agreed to revert to last season's format "in the interests of the championship".
They had previously insisted at a meeting on the morning of the last race in Bahrain on trying out another new system, which would have involved aggregating each driver's two fastest laps to count for their grid position rather than one.
That was despite the teams at the time unanimously backing a return to the 2015 format.
This involves two knock-out sessions, at the end of which the slowest six cars are eliminated, before a shoot-out between the 10 remaining cars for the highest positions on the grid.
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A commitment to secure jobs and production at Port Talbot and other steelworks across the UK has been announced by Tata Steel.

It could bring an end to eight months of uncertainty for thousands of workers who faced losing their jobs when Tata's UK business was put up for sale.
Tata held talks with unions on Wednesday and said it was "an important step forward" for its future in the UK.
But workers still have to agree to pensions changes and will be balloted.
Almost 7,000 people are employed by Tata Steel across Wales, including more than 4,000 in Port Talbot.
A number of "significant" measures include:
Steel worker Gary Keogh said: "In March we were told we were being sold off and not wanted in the family but now we're a bit more positive.
"It's very complex the pensions issue, every individual has to decide how it works out for them. It's different for everyone financially."
Speaking after meeting with union representatives, Roy Rickhuss of Community Union said: "The past year has been incredibly difficult for steelworkers and their families.
"When Tata announced in March that they planned to sell the steelworks, no one knew if they would have a job by Christmas.
"This proposal would secure jobs for years to come and bring serious investment not just to Port Talbot but to steelworks across the UK.
"Reaching this stage of the process is a credit to the hard work of our members who never gave up the fight to 'Save Our Steel' - it was their jobs on the line and it has been their campaign that has brought Tata to this position."
But he added the pension proposal was "a serious concern" with union representatives agreeing to ballot all members on the proposal in the new year.
Analysis by Sarah Dickins, BBC Wales economics correspondent
Tata's workforce may well have fallen to 6,300 in Wales but it is calculated to inject about £200m a year in wages alone.
On top of that there are thousands of other jobs dependent on the steel company and a supply chain estimated to be worth £3.3bn a year to Wales.
Economists say Tata brings "heft" and with the sort of jobs which are very hard to find elsewhere.
Unite's national officer Tony Brady described the move as "a step in the right direction for our industry" but warned there was "still a lot more that government can and must do".
"The commitments made today by our reps must now be followed by a commitment from the government that they will hold Tata to their word and ensure jobs are protected," he said.
Dave Hulse, GMB's national officer, added the unions would "continue to fight for a level playing field for our industry; for action on energy costs, on business rates, and on the dumping of foreign steel".
Tata Steel confirmed the measures would "would structurally reduce risks and help secure a more sustainable future for its UK business".
Koushik Chatterjee, group executive director Tata Steel and executive director for its European business, said: "There is much more work to be done to make Tata Steel UK more financially sustainable.
"But I am confident that all stakeholders will do all they can to try to ensure that the company will be able to achieve its plan in the coming months and years."
He added: "The trade unions and the company have worked hard to reach today's agreement and I would like to thank them for their efforts and seek their continued support in the future.
"We look to other stakeholders such as the UK government to play their part in addressing the UK's manufacturing competitiveness position especially with relation to energy prices."
First Minister Carwyn Jones welcomed the commitment as "great news", as he announced a £4m Tata skills programme to "support" the company in Wales.
The proposed deal was also welcomed by shadow Welsh secretary Jo Stevens but she said there were "still serious questions to answer to protect the longer term future of steel in Wales and the thousands of dependant jobs".
Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns called it "a welcome development" while the UK government's Business Secretary Greg Clark described Wednesday's development as "important".
Mr Clark added: "The government will continue to work with all parties in achieving this shared goal."
The future of Tata plants has been in doubt after it announced its original intention to sell its UK assets in March.
But this was put on hold as the company considered a European tie-up with German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp.
Other plants which will benefit from the deal being reached include Llanwern, Trostre, Shotton, Corby, Hartlepool and sites in the West Midlands.
The five-year commitment to operating the two blast furnaces is a significant development - workers, unions and both Welsh and UK governments had all been pushing to make sure they remained operational and online.
It is the minimum perhaps that workers would have wanted to see. But it is there and they will be pleased to have negotiated it with Tata.
There is also an aim to avoid compulsory redundancies for the next five years.
The 10-year investment plan at Port Talbot is quite significant again and suggests if Tata is willing to put that kind of money in it is also looking at the plant for the next decade at least.
But pensions remain a major issue.
It will be up to members to decide and unions say this is the best possible deal that could have been negotiated. But both Unite and Community said they are not going to make a recommendation over which way to vote.
Tata has put a lot on the table in terms of investment and it is not clear what would happen to those commitments if this pensions deal was voted down.


Preston North End have signed former loanee striker Eoin Doyle from Cardiff City for an undisclosed fee.

Doyle, 28, has signed a three-year deal, having scored four goals in 29 games for the Lillywhites in a season-long stint at Deepdale last term.
He joined the Bluebirds from Chesterfield in February 2015 for a fee reported to be around £1m, but made only 18 appearances for the Welsh club.
"I'm grateful to be back here," Doyle told BBC Radio Lancashire.
"For it to be done so early so I can get the full pre-season with the lads is a boost.
"Once I knew there was a possibility of returning I just jumped in the car and hotfooted it here to get it over the line.
"It was one of the best changing rooms I've been in, the lads really helped me and I didn't feel like a loan player so it was an easy decision to make.
"It helps massively with team spirit and we've got that in abundance at the moment."
With goalkeeper Chris Maxwell, striker Simon Makienok and defender Tommy Spurr also confirmed, Preston have now made four new additions to the squad for the forthcoming Championship season.


Students at a Berkshire independent school have staged a poignant tribute to former pupils who died during World War I.

Seven hundred and seven students at Wellington College lay down to represent the number of the school's former pupils who died in the war.
Head boy Harry Randall described the two-minute tribute as "such a moving experience".
The school is hosting a conference on public schools and World War I.
Many Wellington College pupils went to join the fighting in the trenches in France straight after leaving school.
Harry said: "At the start of the First World War, people our age were preparing to go to war - and that's a scary thought. They'd be sent off in charge of a squad of 30 men.
"We lay down for two minutes, but for the men who gave their lives and paid the ultimate sacrifice - they never got up."


Jockey Graham Gibbons has stood down from riding indefinitely after claims he switched his urine sample with that of fellow rider Callum Shepherd.

Officials at Wednesday's meeting at Kempton made the claim about a sample for routine dope and alcohol testing.
Prior to Gibbons' decision, the British Horseracing Authority was considering whether to suspend his licence as it investigates the incident.
Gibbons and Shepherd, whose licence is unaffected, had one ride at Kempton.
A leading jockey on flat racing's all-weather circuit, Gibbons finished sixth on Button Up in the second division of a one-mile maiden event.
A stewards' report on the BHA website said: "The stewards held an inquiry following a report from the clerk of the scales.
"Having heard evidence from the sampling officer, Graham Gibbons, Callum Shepherd, Paul Struthers - the chief executive of the Professional Jockeys Association (PJA) who accompanied Shepherd - and a valet, they forwarded a report to the head office of the British Horseracing Authority for further consideration."
A PJA statement read: "Callum made a serious error of judgement but, to his credit, very quickly took steps to correct that error, which ultimately led to the resulting stewards inquiry into the matter, to which he gave candid evidence.
"The PJA is in touch with both jockeys and will provide all necessary support. They have been assigned legal representation and will co-operate fully with the investigation."
Gibbons, who served a five-week ban after failing a breathalyser test in 2007, was scheduled to take seven mounts at Newcastle on Friday.


BBC Scotland will broadcast live coverage of Raith Rovers v Heart of Midlothian in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.

The game will be shown by Sportscene on BBC One Scotland, with a 13:05 GMT kick-off on Sunday, 22 January.
The action will be shown on the BBC Sport website, with BBC Radio Scotland also providing commentary.
The teams last met in season 2015-15, with Hearts winning all four meetings in the Championship.
The Stark's Park hosts are managed by Gary Locke, a former boss and player with the visitors, while Rudi Skacel, Jason Thomson and Kevin McHattie are ex-Hearts players in the home ranks.
Hearts won the Scottish Cup for the eighth time in 2012, while Rovers have been in one final, losing to Falkirk in 1913.


Native cattle breeds in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu face a fight for survival if a ban on "bull-taming" contests is not revoked, say supporters of the sport.

Jallikattu has been practised for thousands of years - unlike in Spain, the bull is not killed and the object is to pluck bundles of money or gold tied to the animal's sharpened horns.
But in 2014 the sport was outlawed by the Supreme Court following objections from animal rights activists who say it is cruel. The court upheld the ban in January.
The state that loves bullfighting but isn't Spain
Only native breeds are used in Jallikattu.
"In Tamil Nadu we used to have six native breeds. One breed called Alambadi has been officially declared extinct," says bull fighting supporter Balakumaran Somu. "This ban is going to kill other breeds as well."
Breeders say Jallikattu and bullock cart racing gave the region a healthy male-to-female ratio of native cattle.
"Jallikattu inspired people to hold onto their bulls. Farmers provided extra care for the animal since the bull represents the pride of their family and community. If the ban continues there will be no incentive to hold on to the bulls," says Karthikeyan Siva Senaapathy. He is among the few breeders of pure Kangayam cattle.
The Kangayam breed is native to western Tamil Nadu and used extensively in Jallikattu.
"We had over one million Kangayam bulls in 1990. The population has fallen to 15,000 now."
Tamil Nadu is the most urbanised state in India, with a well-established manufacturing and services sector. Due to the mechanisation of agriculture and transport, the economic rationale for owning a bull has declined.
Dairy farmers, too, are turning their back on native cattle and prefer high-yielding buffaloes and cross breeds. Most of the small dairy farmers own only cows and buy in the services of Jallikattu bulls.
"Among the young calves only the best is selected for Jallikattu.  Others are castrated and used to plough farmland. This ensures only the best genes get passed on," Mr Senaapathy says.
"We used to have a cow-to-bull ratio of 4:1. But now it has gone to 8:1 and it is going to slip further due to this ban. Farmers can't afford to have big bulls as pets."
Activists claim the removal of native stud bulls from villages will make farmers depend more on artificial insemination.
Usually, old bulls are sold off. But now younger and fitter bulls are being sold to meat traders.
Alarmed by the surge in the number of bulls being killed for meat, a non-governmental animal rights organisation swung into action and bought more than 200 bulls.
"These bulls are not protected under any law. So, we couldn't stop them from being sold for slaughter. The only option to save these animals was to buy them," says S Nizamudeen, founder of Coimbatore Cattle Care.
He is planning to offer his bulls for stud services.
"None of the bulls I bought had any major injury or signs of torture. Many farmers are selling the bull because of the uncertainty." He favours the resumption of Jallikattu under strict guidelines.
P Rajasekaran, president of the Tamil Nadu Jallikattu Federation, agrees.
"If any individual is caught doing harm to a bull, catch him and prosecute him. We have no objection to it. But don't have a blanket ban."
Most of the bulls used in Jallikattu are owned by village temples - in other words by the community. These bulls can't be sold but the fear is they may not be replaced.
But animal rights activists argue the decline of native cattle began even before the ban, due to economic factors.
"Our primary concern is the welfare of the animals not the survival of the species," says Dr S Chinny Krishna, vice chairman of the Animal Welfare Board of India. It functions under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the prime mover behind the ban.
"Bulls were domesticated thousands of years ago. They don't see humans as enemies."
He says large numbers of bulls are already being rescued and sheltered by various animal rights groups and they are ready to do more to rehabilitate them and to help breeding programmes.
"To suggest an animal has to endure a life of cruelty just to survive is an unacceptable proposition."
References to bull fighting can be found in Tamil literature dating back 2,000 years. Bull fighters are celebrated in folklore. Tamil cinema often depicts bull taming as a mark of heroism.
A decade ago some satellite TV channels started broadcasting Jallikattu events live. This helped to revive interest in a slowly declining sport and unexpectedly brought in money.
Bull tamers in some places even won prizes. But the sport also attracted more scrutiny, eventually leading to the ban.
Madurai-based bull owner and tamer Pandian Ranjith accuses animal rights groups of exaggerating the situation.
"I have been taming bulls for close to 20 years now. I have been injured many times. I have seen so many bull fighters suffer serious injuries. But I've never ever seen a bull being injured."
He argues a total ban offends communities who cherish a particular way of life - a family tradition he inherited from his father and grandfather.
"I am a tech graduate and work as a network support consultant. When I come home, I go straight to my bulls and talk to them before having my dinner. We treat the bulls as valued members of our family. We can't think of harming them."
Animal rights activists disagree. They point to bulls being given substances such as alcohol to disorient them.
They have also filmed instances when tails were twisted or bitten,  or the animals jabbed with sharp instruments or sticks.
But Jallikattu supporters question why there is no action against horse racing or the conditions of temple elephants.
Meanwhile, the fate of native breeds remains uncertain.
No political party in Tamil Nadu favours a complete ban on the sport - so organisers hope to find a solution through political initiatives rather than a legal reprieve before next season.


Rotherham manager Alan Stubbs says more players will leave the club than originally planned following their 4-0 thrashing at neighbours Barnsley.

Speaking after Saturday's derby, Stubbs said "one or two more will leave" before deadline day on Wednesday.
"I want winners here, it's as simple as that," he told BBC Radio Sheffield.
"I want people who are prepared to give 100%, people it means something to. If they're not showing that, then they're not going to be in my team."
Former Bolton and Celtic defender Stubbs took charge at the New York Stadium in June and has already brought in 12 new players.
"There will be players coming in and there will be players going," he added. "There might be one or two more going after that performance today.
"We always knew it was going to take a bit of time, but it will take a bit longer when you have such a rebuilding job to do.
"I know the frustration from today from the fans as it was disappointing, but I know the fans will stick behind the team and it's up to us to put it right on the pitch."


Aberdeen has slipped down the rankings of the best UK cities in which to live and work as a result of the downturn in oil and gas, according to a new report.

The city dropped from fifth place to 10th in the Good Growth for Cities Index.
The index was compiled by business advisers PwC and think-tank Demos.
It evaluated the performance of 42 UK cities against a number of categories selected to measure economic success and personal and family wellbeing.
These included jobs, health, income, skills, work-life balance, house affordability, commuting times, income equality and pollution.
Aberdeen was found to score well on jobs, skills and income but had below-average scores for income distribution, house prices to earnings and work-life balance.
Edinburgh maintained its position as the third-highest placed city, despite a below-average ranking for transport, while Glasgow fell from 24th to 29th place.
The city still outperformed Newcastle, Birmingham and Sheffield but had below average scores for health and owner-occupation.
While Inverness was not included in the main index and therefore not ranked, it was found to have performed particularly well. It saw above average results in measures including jobs, transport, skills, income distribution and environment.
The report found that Scottish cities overall scored particularly well on elements such as skills, jobs and income.
However, they were mostly around or below average in other areas, particularly health.
On that issue, the report said: "This may raise some questions about the different ways in which the health services are organised in the devolved administrations, the extent of relationship between health outcomes and inputs (e.g. spending) and the likely impact of welfare reform on those currently not participating in the workforce."
Paul Brewer, from PwC in Scotland, said: "It was only a few years ago that Aberdeen was ranked second in the report but has now slipped to 10th place as the impact of the reorganisation of the North Sea oil and gas industry takes effect.
"As our recent Sea Change report highlighted, there is still opportunity in the oil basin but the city also needs to continue to explore other options to future-proof itself.
"Aberdeen does demonstrate its resilience as the only Scottish city to perform above average in terms of new businesses per head."


The X Factor needs a "change of format" to attract new audiences, claims Redfoo, one of the judges on the Australian version of the show.

The UK version of the talent show is losing out to Strictly Come Dancing in the ratings battle.
"A TV show is sometimes like a club." he tells Newsbeat. "Sometimes you need to refresh.
"It could be a number of things, you've got to keep getting new energy in there. People want to see new stuff.
"That's what I feel like I did for the Australian show because it was the fourth series [fifth if you include the one in 2005] and the had the same panel and stuff and then I came in and they really marketed that.
"Ratings shot up with an element of newness."
Redfoo joined as a judge on The X Factor Australia in 2013, alongside Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Dannii Minogue and Ronan Keating.
"Some of the contestants are performing better than the superstar guests, their energy and the way that they're commanding the audience. It's incredible," he says.
"The X Factor is like music camp. It's invaluable what in a short amount of time The X Factor can do to an artist and a person's career.
"It can make them a superstar overnight."
Redfoo originally found fame as one half of LMFAO but he has since pursued a career as a solo artist; his latest single is called New Thang.
He tells Newsbeat he and his nephew Sky Blu are likely to reform the group "in the future, when the time is right".
He adds: "Now we're both pretty comfortable just doing our solo stuff. I think one day we will come back together bigger and stronger than ever."
Redfoo is due to appear at the MTV EMAs in Glasgow on Sunday, having previously presented the event in Amsterdam in 2013.
"It means a lot," he says. "Growing up, MTV has always been an outlet for music videos and pop culture.
"They're so edgy and cool so them having me back this year is an honour and I'm excited because they like what I do."
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube


The Kenyan parliament has backed a controversial bill aimed at "enhancing the authorities' capacity" to deal with terrorism and security issues.

Members of parliament engaged in heated debate on Thursday, with the opposition saying the law would infringe basic human rights.
They and human rights groups have said they will stage protests if the bill is not amended to be less draconian.
Somali militant group al-Shabab has attacked Kenya several times recently.
The proposed law gives the president and spy agencies a range of new powers, which opposition MPs have criticised.
One MP, Fred Outa, had to be wrestled to the ground in the National Assembly when he tried to stop the vote by seizing the mace - a symbol of parliamentary authority.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has defended the bill, saying it is important for the country's security needs.
"No freedoms are being curtailed unless you are a terrorist yourself," he said in a speech on Friday.
"No part of our constitution has been violated."
The BBC's Wanyama wa Chebusiri in Nairobi says there were calls on both sides of parliament for some of the bill's most controversial elements to be amended.
These included
The bill will now be passed to a parliamentary committee for amendment, before being sent to President Kenyatta to be signed into law.
Our correspondent says the committee is likely to make some amendments, given the cross-party support for this.
President Kenyatta has said he wants the bill to become law as soon as possible.
The other main elements of the proposed law include giving the president the right to hire and fire security chiefs, giving the intelligence agencies the right to arrest terror suspects and a stipulation that people found with weapons in places of worship face punishment of 20 years in jail.
It is also proposed that journalists should face jail if their reporting is judged to jeopardise prosecution of terror suspects.
Members of the parliamentary majority said the law would help police and politicians tackle security problems in Kenya.
But opposition MP Ababu Namwamba was quoted by the Daily Nation newspaper as saying: "This law is draconian, it is retrogressive, it is unconstitutional, it entrenches impunity.
"We are today mourning the death of the constitution."
Another MP, Eseli Simiyu, said: "The problem is not about lack of laws in this country. The problem is the lack of implementation of the existing laws."
Earlier this month, President Kenyatta promised to take urgent action on security, replacing his interior minister and police chief following a massacre by Somalia-based Islamist group al-Shabab.
The militants had killed 36 quarry workers in Mandera, in north-east Kenya, near the Somali border.
Non-Muslim workers were shot dead after being separated from Muslims.
President Kenyatta had said: "The time has come for each and every one of us to decide and choose - are you on the side of an open, free, democratic Kenya... or do you stand with repressive, intolerant extremists?"


An elderly bell-ringer had to be removed from a Derbyshire church by a mountain rescue team after becoming tangled in bell ropes.

19 January 2015 Last updated at 19:49 GMT
The team was called to free the unnamed victim from a church tower at Brailsford's All Saints Church after she injured her hip, as Amy Harris reports.


As a referee, Crawford Allan has witnessed plenty in his 25-plus years negotiating the murky waters of Scottish football - the joyous and the wounding, the comical and the controversial, adventures on the continent and tragedy at home.

Almost a decade on, one day, one catastrophic match remains etched indelibly in his memory.
It is December 2007 and Motherwell are playing Dundee United at Fir Park. Allan has the whistle and the goals are flying in during a 5-3 win for the hosts.
And then Well captain Phil O'Donnell collapses suddenly and is later pronounced dead at the tragically young age of 35.
"I think there were about 10 or 11 minutes left in the game," Allan recalls. "Over the intercom, the assistant referee said, 'There's a player down, there's a player down,' out of nowhere. I had to turn round and it was Phil."
Even 10 years on, his voice grows brittle as the memory looms into focus.
"Getting a phone call that night, I can't imagine for the family," said Allan. "The aftermath, Motherwell were superb. I got support, I went to the funeral and the football family for one occasion came together.
"It was a very challenging week or two and I remember thinking, 'will I do my game the following week at Alloa?' I phoned a lot of people and Motherwell were great, and said, 'get back out there, you've got to get back out there'."
There has been strife and there has been conflict - Allan was a rookie in the top tier of Scottish refereeing seven years ago when the officials withdrew their services in protest following intense criticism and concerns over their safety.
Then there was the Scottish Cup tie at Ibrox, when Mixu Paatelainen of Hibernian and Rangers' Walter Smith squared-up like heavyweight boxers at a weigh-in after a two-footed lunge by Nacho Novo, which resulted in a red card.
"I became the meat in the sandwich," Allan, fourth official that day, laughs. "I drew myself up to my full 5ft 6.
"Mixu being his usual, wearing his passion on his sleeve, just launched himself past me to remonstrate about this tackle.
"Walter obviously took exception to this, launched himself across the gap, past me.
"I've got the picture of it, there's the two of them nose-to-nose and me stuck in the middle of it.
"Give Walter his due, he came in at the end, knocked the door kind of sheepishly and said, 'I didn't know I still had that passion in me, guys'.'"
Allan turned 50 this year, and brought his career as an official to a close at the end of the 2016-17 season.
He is eager now to better things for those that follow in an era of multi-angle television replays, social media and unprecedented scrutiny, and feels that allowing referees to account for their decisions publicly post-match is an idea worth exploring.
"You want to explain it and say, 'well the angle I had, I didn't see the player's leg come in'," Allan says. "'He got the ball first, the player then fell over the trailing leg, so it was a clean tackle'.
"I would like to be able to say something like that. If I was wrong and I'd watched TV, then you would say, 'okay, that's my angle, that's what I've seen, I'll try harder next time'.
"And we will, because we go home and chuck the bag in the corner the same as everybody else, and say, 'that was a shocker, but what can I learn'?"
He knows, though, that altering a deeply-ingrained footballing sphere where dissent cascades from the stands, and officials are easy meat, will prove fiendishly difficult.
"If I could change one thing about Scottish football, it would be a bit of the culture," Allan says. "I know that we are compared regularly to rugby and the big gentle giants that thump each other for 80 minutes, but treat the referee with ultimate respect.
"There was one game where it got so bad with my wife and youngest daughter at a ground - we get two complimentary tickets for each game, and this club must use the same seats, so the fans know that's the referee's seats.
"And unfortunately it got a bit out of hand that day, some of the abuse, and my daughter got a bit upset, so my wife had to report it to a steward. They couldn't do anything about it at that time - they said it was industrial language.
"If there's one thing I could change, it would be to treat people with a bit of respect. It's probably, as I said in a presentation to the SFA, mission impossible. I did a presentation to the SFA convention last year - how can we increase the profile and respect for referees? Maybe it's just the hardest thing I'll ever take on."
Crawford Allan was speaking to BBC Scotland's Kenny Macintyre - to hear the full interview, tune into Sportsound on BBC Radio Scotland from 14:00 on Saturday, 24 June.


A Lebanese journalist has become the first person to take the stand at the UN-backed tribunal at The Hague investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Karma Khayat and her TV station al-Jadeed are accused of contempt of court for revealing details about witnesses.
They deny any wrongdoing, and say they are fighting for freedom of speech.
The five men accused of killing Mr Hariri remain in hiding, and are being tried by the tribunal in absentia.
Mr Hariri was killed along with 21 others when his motorcade was hit by a massive bomb blast in the Lebanese capital Beirut on 14 February 2005.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) was set up by the United Nations to try those responsible for the killings. The five suspects still at large have been linked to the militant Shia Islamist movement, Hezbollah.
A few minutes after opening on Thursday, the tribunal went into private session, the BBC's Anna Holligan reports from The Hague.
It followed accusations from the defence that the prosecution had revealed new evidence just a day before the hearing, and was thus attempting a "trial by ambush", our correspondent adds.
Prosecutors in the case say Ms Khayat and al-Jadeed published a list of witnesses' names, which undermined the confidence of those witnesses because they had been promised anonymity.
Ms Khayat says the list she published was redacted, which made it impossible to identify any witnesses but showed the tribunal was vulnerable to leaks. The full list of witnesses was later published by other parties unknown, she asserts.
Ms Khayat accused the court of attempting to silence the Lebanese media "in order not to criticise the tribunal in future".
"I believe my role in court is not to defend Karma Khayat and not to defend al-Jadeed; there's nothing to defend, we have a very strong case," she told the BBC.
"I am there to defend freedom of speech and freedom of press," she added.


Police in Northern Ireland have been given more time to question a veteran republican arrested in connection with the murder of Jean McConville.

The mother-of-ten was taken by the IRA from her flat in December 1972.
Ivor Bell, 77, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the case. The police have been given until Friday night to continue questioning him.
Mr Bell was part of an IRA delegation that held secret talks with the British government in London in 1972.
Among the delegation at those talks were Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.
Jean McConville, 37, became known as one of the Disappeared.
She was held at one or more houses before being shot.
Her body was recovered on a beach in County Louth in August 2003.
The Disappeared are those who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried by republicans during the Troubles.
The IRA admitted in 1999 that it murdered and buried at secret locations nine of the Disappeared.
The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains was established in 1999 by a treaty between the British and Irish governments.
It lists 16 people as "disappeared". Despite extensive searches, the remains of seven of them have not been found.


Jamie Cooke became the first British man to win modern pentathlon's World Cup Final with victory in Sarasota.

It was Cooke's second straight success in the sport's World Cup series after winning in Hungary last month.
Germany's Patrick Dogue was second behind the 25-year-old Briton, with Frenchman Valentin Prades third.
"It's been a perfect day," said Cooke, who was third after the swimming, fencing and riding but pulled himself up in the combined run and shoot.
Cooke's victory came just three months before the Rio Olympics get under way.
Compatriot Freyja Prentice finished sixth in the women's event.