Stadium, Cardiff, on 27 May 2001, when Walsall won promotion to the Championship by beating Reading by 3 goals to 2. He was offered full professional terms by the Professional Game Match Officials Board during the following close season in 2001, and agreed to join the Select Group of referees (officiating in the Premier League), although this would only be for a maximum of two seasons before his retirement due to age restrictions. He took charge of his first ever Premier League match during the fixture involving Ipswich Town and Derby County at Portman Road on 21 August 2001, the home club winning 3–1. In 2002, Wolstenholme was involved in a match, which did not last the 90 minutes, but which remains in the records. Sheffield United played West Bromwich Albion at their home ground, Bramall Lane, in the old Football League First Division on 16 March 2002. He dismissed three players during the course of the game, all from Sheffield United. First to go was the goalkeeper, Simon Tracey, after 9 minutes for a handball outside the penalty area (an incident totally unrelated to the chaos that would ensue in the second half). Then, after Georges Santos crashed into Albion's Andy Johnson on 65 minutes, he was also sent off. A minute later, Patrick Suffo was dismissed after a head-to-head confrontation with Derek McInnes. When two other players then had to be withdrawn injured after 77 minutes (coincidentally, immediately after West Brom scored their third goal), and with no replacements available, Wolstenholme had to abandon the game due to United having less than 7 players left on the field. Amongst other sanctions taken by the Football Association, Sheffield United were fined £10,000 and their manager Neil Warnock £300. Santos (given a two-match ban) and Suffo (fined £3,000) never played for United again. The score at the time of the abandonment was 0–3, and the result was allowed to stand despite the game not being completed. The match was subsequently popularised with the title "the Battle of Bramall Lane". In the final minute of the Everton versus Chelsea match at Goodison Park on 7 December 2002, and with the score 3–1 to the away side, he sent off David Unsworth of Everton for "violent conduct" (using his knee) after an incident involving Chelsea's Danish winger, Jesper Grønkjær. After the match was over, Everton manager David Moyes had to be dissuaded