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Premier League referees: Where they are from, who they support and their red card records

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Let’s be honest, if you’re on this page, there has probably been a refereeing decision go against your team.

You’re here because you’re frantically searching the internet to find out who a particular referee supports, in a bid to determine whether there is any level of bias against your side.

Unfortunately, your tirade will probably have to stop here.

Referees are not allowed to officiate the teams they support, nor are they allowed to go near their closest rivals.

But that barely matters, as most Premier League officials support teams who play in the lower echelons for the football pyramid.

Here’s all you need to know about the top flight officials…

Martin Atkinson

Atkinson is one of the Premier League’s most senior officials (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Date of birth: 31/3/1971

Hometown: Bradford

Joined Premier League: 2004

Supports: Leeds

Biggest games refereed:

  • FA Cup final 2011 – Manchester City 1-0 Stoke
  • Championship play-off final 2013 – Crystal Palace 1-0 Watford
  • Capital One Cup final 2014 – Manchester City 3-1 Sunderland

Premier League card record (pre-18/19 season):

  • Matches: 349
  • Yellow cards: 1,179
  • Red cards: 57

Atkinson is a FIFA-recognised official, who began refereeing at the age of 16 and is now considered one of the Premier League’s most senior referees. He first made the Football League as a linesman in 1998 and began refereeing Conference games in the middle by 2002, before a rapid rise to the top flight.

Michael Oliver

Oliver is considered one of the Premier League’s top officials (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Date of birth: 20/2/1985

Hometown: Ashington

Joined Premier League: 2010

Supports: Newcastle

Biggest games refereed:

  • FA Cup final 2018 – Manchester United 0-1 Chelsea
  • EFL final 2016 – Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City (Liverpool won 3-1 on pens)
  • Community Shield 2014 – Manchester City 0-3 Arsenal
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Premier League card record (pre-18/19 season):

  • Matches: 203
  • Yellow cards: 656
  • Red cards: 28

Oliver is one of the youngest referees in the Premier League, and started out his officiating interests alongside his father Clive when he was just 14. He was promoted to the National List of Referees in 2007 and took charge of the Conference playoff final in 2007. He became FIFA listed in 2012 and became a UEFA Elite member in 2018.

Jon Moss

Moss is a popular referee with the players (Image: Action Images via Reuters)

Date of birth: 18/10/1970

Hometown: Sunderland

Joined Premier League: 2011

Supports: Sunderland

Biggest game refereed:

  • FA Cup final 2015- Arsenal 4-0 Aston Villa

Premier League card record (pre-18/19 season):

  • Matches: 173
  • Yellow cards: 584
  • Red cards: 25

Moss was in fact a youth footballer himself in his early years, earning a footballing scholarship at Central Connecticut State University in the US. However, his academy days at his home club Sunderland ended when he began to referee as part of his PE studies. He joined the Football League in 2005, and became a top flight ref in 2010.

Andre Marriner

Marriner is a former FA Cup final referee (Image: REUTERS)

Date of birth: 1/11971

Hometown: Birmingham

Joined Premier League: 2005

Supports: Aston Villa

Biggest games refereed:

  • FA Cup final 2013 – Wigan 1-0 Manchester City
  • Championship Playoff final 2008 – Blackpool 3-2 Cardiff
  • Community Shield 2010 Manchester United 3-1 Chelsea

Premier League card record (pre-18/19 season):

  • Matches: 282
  • Yellow cards: 911
  • Red cards: 52

Marriner was born in Birmingham and was promoted to the Select Group Referees in 2005. He began officiating for FIFA in 2009 but stepped down in 2017. He officiated the FA Cup final in 2013.

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Anthony Taylor

Taylor is one of the most highly-rated officials on the division (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Date of birth: 20/10/1978

Hometown: Manchester

Joined Premier League: 2010

Supports: Altrincham

Biggest games refereed:

  • FA Cup final 2017 – Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea
  • EFL final 2015- Chelsea 2-0 Spurs
  • Championship Playoff final 2018 – Fulham 1-0 Aston Villa

Premier League card record (pre-18/19 season):

  • Matches: 193
  • Yellow cards: 662
  • Red cards: 30

Taylor is a Mancunian-born Select Group referee, and was promoted to this role in 2010. He rose up through non-league in the early years of the millennium before breaking into the Football League in 2006. He became FIFA listed in 2013.

Mike Dean

Dean gets plenty of big Premier League appointments (Image: REUTERS)

Date of birth: 2/6/1968

Hometown: Wirral

Joined Premier League: 2000

Supports: Tranmere

Biggest games refereed:

  • FA Cup final 2008 – Portsmouth 1-0 Cardiff
  • EFL final 2011 – Arsenal 1-2 Birmingham
  • April 2010 – Manchester United 1-2 Chelsea (EPL)

Premier League card record (pre-18/19 season):

  • Matches: 453
  • Yellow cards: 1631
  • Red cards: 90

Dean began his refereeing journey in 1985, before being promoted into the Football League as a full-time referee in 1997. He became FIFA-listed in 2003 before resigning in 2013 to focus on domestic appointments.

Craig Pawson

Pawson in action during last season (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Date of birth: 2/3/1979

Hometown: Sheffield

Joined Premier League: 2013

Supports: Sheffield United

Biggest games refereed:

  • League 2 Play-off final 2012 – Crewe 2-0 Cheltenham
  • Community Shield 2016 – Leicester 1-2 Manchester United
  • FA Cup semi-final 2017 – Arsenal 2-1 Manchester City

Premier League card record (pre-18/19 season):

  • Matches: 108
  • Yellow cards: 362
  • Red cards: 17

Another young referee at the top level, Pawson started out as an assistant referee in the Football League, before becoming the main man in the middle in 2008. He initially began his refereeing adventure in 1993, and has now become FIFA-listed, signing in 2015.

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Kevin Friend

Friend enjoys a joke during last season’s Premier League (Image: AFP)

Date of birth: 6/7/1971

Hometown: Tottenham, London

Joined Premier League: 2009

Supports: Bristol City/Leicester

Biggest games refereed:

  • EFL final 2013 – Swansea 5-0 Bradford
  • Community Shield 2012 – Chelsea 2-3 Manchester City

Premier League card record (pre-18/19 season):

  • Matches: 178
  • Yellow cards: 629
  • Red cards: 20

Friend is one of the more experienced refs in the English game and was promoted to the top flight in 2009, having begun refereeing in 1984. His career peaked in 2013, when he was given a Wembley date at the League Cup final between Swansea and Bradford City.

Other Premier League referees

Lee Mason: PL since 2006, from Bolton, supports Bolton.

Lee Probert: PL since 2007, from Gloucestershire, supports unknown.

Roger East: PL since 2013, from Wiltshire, supports unknown.

Bobby Madeley: PL since 2013, from Wakefield, supports Huddersfield.

Graham Scott: PL since 2015, from Oxford, supports Swindon.

Coote is a new man in the Premier League (Image: Birmingham Mail)

Stuart Attwell: PL since 2016, from Nuneaton, supports Luton.

Paul Tierney: PL since 2016, from Wigan, supports Wigan.

Chris Kavanagh: PL since 2017, from Manchester, supports unknown.

David Coote: PL since 2018, from Nottingham, supports unknown.

Simon Hooper: PL since 2018, from Wiltshire, supports Swindon.

 

 

 

 

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Crime & Court

Osun police arrest three night guards over alleged murder of 40-year-old man

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A night guard at Ibuowo Estate, Okinni, Egbedore Local Government Area of Osun State, on Saturday, allegedly shot dead a 40-year-old man, Badmus Mohammed.

The guard, Rasaq Moshood, DAILY POST gathered, shot Mohammed, a tenant, who is popularly called Lasgidi dead with his dane gun.

His Landlord, Kazeem Jimoh told DAILY POST that he was at a bar with the deceased till midnight on Friday, before he was called on phone about his death.

According to Kazeem, his tenant was killed at the front of the house, while his door was left open.

“I and Kazeem were at a bar till past 12 when I left him.

“I didn’t sleep at home but I got a call around 1 a.m. that Lasgidi was killed by a guard. When i got home, I saw his door open, while his corpse was outside,” he said.

The Police spokesperson, SP Yemisi Opalola confirmed the incident.

She noted that three night guards have been arrested with their dane guns.

According to her, “one Babatunde Olumide, the Chairman of Ibuowo Estate Okinni reported at dada Estate Divisional Police Hqts., that their night guard, one Moshood Rasaq used his dane gun to shoot one Mohammed Badmus, aged 40 years and he died instantly.

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“Suspect has been arrested, gun used has been recovered, while the corpse has been taken to UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital morgue for autopsy.”

Opalola added that the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation.

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Out of Play

Chinese astronauts return to earth after six months in space

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Officials stand near the capsule of the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft after it returned to earth carrying three Chinese astronauts in China’s Inner Mongolia on April 16, 2022. STR / AFP

Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Saturday after 183 days in space, ending China’s longest crewed mission as it continues its quest to become a major space power.

The Shenzhou-13 spacecraft was the latest mission in Beijing’s drive to rival the United States, after landing a rover on Mars and sending probes to the Moon.

Live footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed the capsule landing in a cloud of dust, with the ground crew who had kept clear of the landing site rushing in helicopters to reach the capsule.

The two men and one woman — Zhai Zhigang, Ye Guangfu and Wang Yaping — returned to Earth shortly before 10 am Beijing time (0200 GMT), after six months aboard the Tianhe core module of China’s Tiangong space station.

Ground crew applauded as the astronauts each took turns to report that they were in good physical condition.

Zhai was the first to emerge from the capsule roughly 45 minutes after the landing, waving and grinning at cameras as he was lifted by the ground crew into a specially designed chair before being bundled into a blanket.

“I’m proud of our heroic country,” Zhai said in an interview with CCTV shortly after leaving the capsule. “I feel extremely good.”

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The trio originally launched in the Shenzhou-13 from China’s northwestern Gobi Desert last October, as the second of four crewed missions during 2021-2022 sent to assemble the country’s first permanent space station — Tiangong, which means “heavenly palace.”

Wang became the first Chinese woman to spacewalk last November, as she and her colleague Zhai installed space station equipment during a six-hour stint.

Mission commander Zhai, 55, is a former fighter pilot who performed China’s first spacewalk in 2008, while Ye is a People’s Liberation Army pilot.

The trio have completed two spacewalks, carried out numerous scientific experiments, set up equipment and tested technologies for future construction during their time in orbit.

The astronauts spent the past few weeks tidying up and preparing the cabin facilities and equipment for the crew of the incoming Shenzhou-14, expected to be launched in the coming months.

China’s previous record spaceflight mission length was set by last year’s Shenzhou-12 deployment, which lasted 92 days.

Six months will become the normal astronaut residence period aboard the Chinese space station, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Space race

The world’s second-largest economy has poured billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a permanently crewed space station by 2022 and eventually sending humans to the Moon.

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The country has come a long way in catching up with the United States and Russia, whose astronauts and cosmonauts have decades of experience in space exploration.

But under Chinese President Xi Jinping, the country’s plans for its heavily-promoted “space dream” have been put into overdrive.

Besides a space station, Beijing is also planning to build a base on the Moon, and the country’s National Space Administration said it aims to launch a crewed lunar mission by 2029.

China has been excluded from the International Space Station since 2011 when the US banned NASA from engaging with the country.

While China does not plan to use its space station for global cooperation on the scale of the ISS, Beijing has said it is open to foreign collaboration although the scope of that cooperation is not yet clear.

The ISS is due for retirement after 2024, although NASA has said it could remain functional until 2030.

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Putin’s Russia finally invades Ukraine

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Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv on February 24, 2022.(Photo by Aris Messinis / AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday with explosions heard soon after across the country and its foreign minister warning a “full-scale invasion” was underway.

Weeks of intense diplomacy and the imposition of Western sanctions on Russia failed to deter Putin, who had massed between 150,000 and 200,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine.

“I have made the decision of a military operation,” Putin said in a surprise television announcement that triggered immediate condemnation from US President Joe Biden and sent global financial markets into turmoil.

Shortly after the announcement, explosions were heard in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and several other cities, according to AFP correspondents.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his address to the nation at the Kremlin in Moscow on February 21, 2022. Alexey NIKOLSKY / Sputnik / AFP

 

Putin called on Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their arms and justified the operation by claiming the government was overseeing a “genocide” in the east of the country.

The Kremlin had earlier said rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine had asked Moscow for military help against Kyiv.

The extent of Thursday’s attacks was not immediately clear, but Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the worst-case scenario was playing out.

“Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes,” Kuleba tweeted.

“This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now.”

Biden immediately warned of “consequences” for Russia and that there would be a “catastrophic loss of life and human suffering”.

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NATO’s chief condemned Russia’s “reckless and unprovoked attack” on Ukraine.

Putin’s move came after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky made an emotional appeal late on Wednesday night to Russians not to support a “major war in Europe”.

Speaking Russian, Zelensky said that the people of Russia were being lied to about Ukraine.

Zelensky said he had tried to call Putin but there was “no answer, only silence”, adding that Moscow now had around 200,000 soldiers near Ukraine’s borders.

Earlier on Wednesday the separatist leaders of Donetsk and Lugansk sent separate letters to Putin, asking him to “help them repel Ukraine’s aggression”, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The two letters were published by Russian state media and were both dated February 22.

Their appeals came after Putin recognised their independence and signed friendship treaties with them that include defence deals.

– ‘Moment of peril’ –

Putin had for weeks defied a barrage of international criticism over the crisis, with some Western leaders saying he was no longer rational.

His announcement of the military operation came ahead of a last-ditch summit involving European Union leaders in Brussels planned for Thursday.

The 27-nation bloc had also imposed sanctions on Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu and high-ranking figures including the commanders of Russia’s army, navy and air force, another part of the wave of Western punishment after Putin sought to rewrite Ukraine’s borders.

The United Nations Security Council met late Wednesday for its second emergency session in three days over the crisis, with a personal plea there by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Putin going unheeded.

“President Putin, stop your troops from attacking Ukraine, give peace a chance, too many people have already died,” Guterres said.

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The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, warned that an all-out Russian invasion could displace five million people, triggering a new European refugee crisis.

Before Putin’s announcement, Ukraine had urged its approximately three million citizens living in Russia to leave.

“We are united in believing that the future of European security is being decided right now, here in our home, in Ukraine,” President Zelensky said during a joint media appearance with the visiting leaders of Poland and Lithuania.

Western capitals said Russia had amassed 150,000 troops in combat formations on Ukraine’s borders with Russia, Belarus and Russian-occupied Crimea and on warships in the Black Sea.

Ukraine has around 200,000 military personnel, and could call up to 250,000 reservists.

Moscow’s total forces are much larger — around a million active-duty personnel — and have been modernised and re-armed in recent years.

 

– High cost of war –

But Ukraine has received advanced anti-tank weapons and some drones from NATO members. More have been promised as the allies try to deter a Russian attack or at least make it costly.

Shelling had intensified in recent days between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists — a Ukrainian soldier was killed on Wednesday, the sixth in four days — and civilians living near the front were fearful.

Dmitry Maksimenko, a 27-year-old coal miner from government-held Krasnogorivka, told AFP that he was shocked when his wife came to tell him that Putin had recognised the two Russian-backed separatist enclaves.

“She said: ‘Have you heard the news?’. How could I have known? There’s no electricity, never mind internet. I don’t know what is going to happen next, but to be honest, I’m afraid,” he said.

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In a Russian village around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border, AFP reporters saw military equipment including rocket launchers, howitzers and fuel tanks mounted on trains stretching for hundreds of metres.

Russia has long demanded that Ukraine be forbidden from ever joining the NATO alliance and that US troops pull out from Eastern Europe.

Speaking to journalists, Putin on Tuesday set out a number of stringent conditions if the West wanted to de-escalate the crisis, saying Ukraine should drop its NATO ambition and become neutral.

Washington Wednesday announced sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which Germany had earlier effectively suspended by halting certification.

Australia, Britain, Japan and the European Union have all also announced sanctions.

 

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