Anthony Taylor (referee)

Anthony Taylor (born 20 October 1978) is an English professional football referee from Wythenshawe, Manchester. In 2010, he was promoted to the list of Select Group Referees who officiate primarily in the Premier League, and in 2013 became a listed referee for FIFA allowing him to referee European and international matches. In 2015, he officiated the Football League Cup final at Wembley Stadium when Chelsea defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2–0. Taylor returned to Wembley later that year to officiate the Community Shield as Arsenal beat Chelsea 1–0. He refereed the 2017 and 2020 FA Cup finals, both between Chelsea and Arsenal; Arsenal won on both occasions 2–1. Upon the selection, he became the first man to referee a second FA Cup final since Arthur Kingscott in 1901.[2]

Anthony Taylor
Born (1978-10-20) 20 October 1978[1]
Wythenshawe, Manchester, England
Domestic
Years League Role
2002–2004 Northern Premier League Referee
2004–2006 Football Conference Referee
2006–2010 The Football League Referee
2010– Premier League Referee
International
Years League Role
2013– FIFA listed Referee

Career

Early career

Taylor started refereeing in the Northern Premier League in 2002,[3] progressing to officiate in the Conference North in 2004.[4] He was appointed to the Football League referees' list at the start of the 2006–07 season and his first appointment was a 0–0 draw between Wrexham and Peterborough United in a League Two match in August 2006.[5]

In November 2006 he refereed an England under-19s international friendly match against Switzerland under-19s at Gresty Road, the home of Crewe Alexandra; England won 3–2.[6]

Professional career

Taylor's first Premier League appointment was a February 2010 encounter between Fulham and Portsmouth, which Fulham won 1–0. He refereed one more game in the top-flight during that season before being promoted to the League's list of Select Group of Referees for 2010–11.

In September 2010 he took charge of his fourth Premier League match, contested by Blackburn Rovers and Fulham. The match ended 1–1.[7]

Taylor sent off three players in his first game of the 2011–12 season. Middlesbrough won 1–0 at Leeds United in a fixture which saw Jonny Howson and Max Gradel of Leeds and Boro's Tony McMahon dismissed, all for second bookable offences.[8] Taylor refereed a total of 34 matches that season and dismissed eight players in total, including the three at Leeds.

Taylor became a FIFA listed referee on 1 January 2013, making him eligible to officiate UEFA European and FIFA international competitive games. In May 2013 he was fourth official to Andre Marriner for the FA Cup Final.

On the opening day of the 2013–14 season Taylor refereed Aston Villa's 3–1 victory away at Arsenal. He awarded Villa two penalties and dismissed Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny for two bookable offences. Arsène Wenger described Taylor's officiating of the match as "stubborn"[9] but Villa manager Paul Lambert said that he thought the official "had a good game".[10]

Taylor was also criticised in December, for booking Chelsea's Cesc Fàbregas for diving when replays proved he had been fouled by Southampton's Matt Targett. He apologised to Chelsea after that decision.[11] On 1 March 2015, Taylor was the referee for the Football League Cup final between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, his first match refereeing Chelsea since his apology. The Blues won the match 2–0.[11]

In 2015, Taylor refereed both the 2015 FA Community Shield and the 2015 Football League Cup final.[12][13]

On 26 April 2017, Taylor was chosen to be the main referee for the 2017 FA Cup final.[14] On 26 May 2018 he was chosen to officiate the 2018 EFL Championship play-off Final.

Statistics
SeasonGamesTotal per gameTotal per game
2006–0726783.0050.19
2007–08361052.92100.28
2008–0938912.3940.11
2009–1036922.5680.22
2010–11321183.69120.36
2011–12341063.1280.24
2012–1335892.5460.17

Statistics for all competitions. No records are available prior to 2006–07.[15]

gollark: ++apioform
gollark: ++apioform
gollark: ++apioform
gollark: ++apioform
gollark: ++apioform

References
  1. "Anthony Taylor". Football-Lineups. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  2. "FA Cup Final: Anthony Taylor to referee second final". BBC Sport. 22 July 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  3. Northern Premier League, 2002: SoccerFactsUK website.
  4. Conference North Archived 18 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, 2004: SoccerFactsUK website.
  5. Wrexham v. Peterborough, first League match: soccerbase.com website.
  6. England v. Switzerland, Under-19 friendly: TheFA.com official website.
  7. BBC Sport - Football, 2010: Bosses Allardyce and Hughes round on ref Anthony Taylor report.
  8. Leeds 0 Middlesbrough 1: Emnes condemns nine-man Leeds to defeat | Mail Online
  9. "'Stubborn' referee infuriates Arsenal boss Wenger | talkSPORT". Archived from the original on 20 August 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  10. BBC Sport - Arsenal 1-3 Aston Villa
  11. Poll, Graham (28 February 2015). "Capital One Cup final referee Anthony Taylor needs to stay strong after making Cesc Fabregas blooper". Daily Mail. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  12. Bradbury, Jamie (7 July 2015). "Anthony Taylor appointed FA Community Shield referee". thefa.com. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  13. "Anthony Taylor to referee Capital One Cup Final". capitalonecup.co.uk. The Football League. 12 February 2015. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  14. "Arsenal fans hand Chelsea the FA Cup after referee for the final is named". Metro. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  15. Anthony Taylor | Latest Football Betting Odds | Soccer Base
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.