Stuart Attwell

Last updated

Stuart Attwell
Stuart Attwell (cropped).jpg
Attwell in 2022
Full name Stuart Steven Attwell
Born (1982-10-06) 6 October 1982 (age 41)
Nuneaton, England
Domestic
YearsLeagueRole
2007–2016 The Football League Referee
2008–2012; 2016– Premier League Referee
International
YearsLeague
2009– Referee

Stuart Steven Attwell (born 6 October 1982) is an English referee who referees in the Premier League.

Contents

Attwell made a prominent debut in 2008 as the youngest person ever to referee in the Premier League. [1] but was demoted from the Select Group in February 2012, returning to refereeing in the Football League. He returned to the Select Group in March 2016. [2]

Career

Attwell (right) with Jamie Tolley in 2009 Jamie Tolley and Stuart Attwell.jpg
Attwell (right) with Jamie Tolley in 2009

In 1982 he was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire and grew up there. Attwell graduated from Staffordshire University in 2004. Refereeing had been a lifelong ambition for him, according to his father. Attwell worked his way up from local games to non-League football, then to the West Midlands League and the Football League. [3]

His promotion to Football League refereeing came ahead of the 2007–08 season, officiating his first match on 11 August 2007 in a League Two fixture between Hereford United and Rotherham United. He first officiated in League One when taking charge of a game between Swansea City and Gillingham. Attwell continued to be promoted, and on 26 December 2007, he made his Championship debut officiating a 1–1 draw between Sheffield United and Blackpool. In total he refereed five Championship games during the 2007–08 season. On 26 May 2008 Attwell officiated the League Two play-off final between Rochdale and Stockport County at Wembley Stadium, won 3–2 by Stockport. [4]

Attwell was included in the Select Group of referees for the 2008–09 season, [5] making him eligible to referee in the Premier League, and granting him full-time employment by the Professional Game Match Officials Association. On 25 June 2008, he was promoted to the list of top flight officials in the Premier League, after just one season in the Football League. This made him the youngest ever Premier League referee at 25 years of age. [6] On 23 August 2008, he made his Premier League debut when he refereed a 1–1 draw between Blackburn Rovers and Hull City. [7]

Attwell and one of his assistants, Nigel Bannister, were censured for a decision to award a "ghost goal" [8] to Reading in a Championship game at Watford on 20 September 2008 after Bannister mistakenly flagged for a goal instead of a corner kick. [9] The incident led to both Attwell and Bannister being dropped from their duties the following weekend. Six weeks later, Attwell refereed a 1–1 draw between Derby County and Nottingham Forest.

On 20 December 2008, Attwell was added to the international list of referees for 2009.

In July 2010, Attwell officiated in Japanese J. League matches for three weeks. Attwell and Anthony Taylor were sent to Japan as part of referee exchange programmes signed between the English FA and Japanese FA. [10]

In February 2012, Attwell was demoted from the list of Select Group Referees and returned to Football League duty on the National List. The move was said to come by mutual consent. Professional Game Match Officials Limited general manager Mike Riley backed Attwell to improve as a referee and return to the top level. [11]

Attwell returned to officiating in the Premier League in October 2014. [12] He was promoted to the list of Select Group Referees in March 2016. [2]

Career statistics

England

SeasonGamesTotal Yellow card.svgYellow card.svg per gameTotal Red card.svgRed card.svg per game
2007–08 32521.6290.28
2008–09 30943.1380.26
2009–10 26953.6540.15
2010–11 25793.1620.08
2011–12 321023.1960.19
2012–13 441292.9330.07
2013–14 361083.0090.25
2014–15 37952.5740.11
2015–16 441182.6840.09
2016–17 27903.3380.30
2017–18 29993.4130.10
2018–19 30993.3040.13
2019–20 271254.6350.19
2020–21 281073.8240.14
2021–22 28993.5610.04
2022–23 291043.5930.10

Statistics for all competitions, including domestic, European and international. No records available prior to 2007–08. [13]

Japan

SeasonGamesTotal Yellow card.svgYellow card.svg per gameTotal Red card.svgRed card.svg per game
2010 2189.0000.00

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uriah Rennie</span> English football referee

Uriah Rennie is an English retired football referee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Halsey</span> English football referee

Mark R. Halsey is an English retired professional football referee who was born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, later based in Bolton, Greater Manchester. Halsey primarily refereed in the Premier League from 1999 to 2013 and was on the league's list of Select Group Referees from its creation in 2001 until his retirement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Shield</span> Australian soccer referee

Mark Shield is a former Australian soccer referee who officiated in the top tier of Australian soccer between 1995 and 2005. Shield was FIFA listed between 1999 and 2008, and was in control of matches at the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cup finals. He refereed the finals of the 2006 AFC Champions League and the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. After retiring, he served as national director of referees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andre Marriner</span> English football referee

Andre Marriner is a retired English professional football referee based in Solihull, West Midlands. He is a member of the Birmingham County Football Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Atkinson</span> English professional football referee

Martin Atkinson is an English referee coach and retired professional football referee who officiated primarily in the Premier League. He is a member of the West Riding County Football Association.

Keith Stuart Hackett is an English former football referee, who began refereeing in local leagues in the Sheffield, South Yorkshire area in 1960. He is counted amongst the top 100 referees of all time in a list maintained by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS).

Peter O'Leary is a New Zealand former Association football referee, previously of Wellington but now is residing and working in Hamilton. He operated in the Australian A-League and the New Zealand Football Championship, and his other occupation is as a teacher and deputy principal at Hamilton's Melville High School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ravshan Irmatov</span> Uzbek professional football referee

Ravshan Sayfiddin oʻgʻli Irmatov is an Uzbek professional football referee. He officiated in the Uzbek League from 2000-2019 and internationally from 2003-2019. Irmatov holds the record for officiating the most FIFA World Cup matches with 11.

Anthony Taylor 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuichi Nishimura</span> Japanese football referee

Yuichi Nishimura is a Japanese football referee. He has refereed in the Japanese J. League Division 1 since 1999 and has been a full international referee for FIFA since 2004. He refereed at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where he was appointed to several prestigious matches, including as fourth official on the final. He also refereed the opening game in the 2014 FIFA World Cup between hosts Brazil and Croatia, his poor performance in which was criticized. He refereed the second leg of the 2014 AFC Champions League final between Al Hilal and Western Sydney Wanderers in which his performance was heavily criticized also.

The Select Group is a panel of English professional football referees and assistant referees, appointed by Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL). The group was first formed in 2001, when England became the first country to use fully professional referees in its top flight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Football League Two play-off final</span> Football match

The 2008 Football League Two play-off final was an association football match which was played on 26 May 2008 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Stockport County and Rochdale to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from Football League Two to the Football League One. The top three teams of the 2007–08 Football League Two season, Milton Keynes Dons, Peterborough United and Hereford United, gained automatic promotion to League One, while those placed from fourth to seventh in the table took part in play-offs. The winners of the play-off semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2008–09 season in League One. The losing semi-finalists were Darlington and Wycombe Wanderers.

Strebre Delovski is a retired Australian soccer referee in the A-League. He previously officiated in the Illawarra Premier League and during the A-League off-season has been refereeing in the NSW Premier League competition. In 2005 and 2007 he was named NSW Premier League Referee of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Oliver (referee)</span> English football referee

Michael Oliver is an English professional football referee from Ashington, Northumberland. His county FA is the Northumberland Football Association. He belongs to the Select Group of Referees in England and officiates primarily in the Premier League. He received his FIFA badge in 2012, allowing him to officiate in major international matches. Oliver was appointed to take charge of the final of the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Oliver was promoted to the UEFA Elite Group of Referees in 2018.

Jarred Gavan Gillett is an Australian football referee in the Premier League, following the announcement on 3 August 2021 that he had been promoted to the Select Group referees list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Madley</span> English football referee

Robert Madley is an English professional football referee who was on the list of Select Group Referees who officiate primarily in the Premier League between 2013 and 2018. He officiated in the Football League as a referee from 2010 and was one of the youngest officials to progress to the top-flight of English football.

David Coote is an English football referee. His county FA is the Nottinghamshire Football Association. He belongs to the Select Group of Referees in England and officiates primarily in the Premier League.

Paul Tierney is a football referee from Wigan, Greater Manchester, who referees in the Premier League. He first officiated in the Premier League on 30 August 2014. He was promoted to the FIFA list of referees in 2018, but was removed again in 2022. Tierney is registered with the Lancashire Football Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammad Taqi (referee)</span> Singaporean football referee

Muhammad Taqi Aljaafari bin Jahari, also known as Muhammad Taqi, is a Singaporean international football referee. He has been a FIFA listed referee since 2012, and has also refereed a number of AFC Champions League matches. He has also won the 2014 S.League Referee of the Year and the AFF Referee of the Year in 2017.

Graham David Scott is an English professional football referee who officiates in the Premier League.

References

  1. ↑ McKenzie, Andrew (25 June 2008). "Premier League names youngest ref". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 11 March 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Attwell and Tierney promoted to Select Group". www.premierleague.com. 23 March 2016. Archived from the original on 13 July 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  3. ↑ "Staffs graduate is Premier League's youngest ever referee". Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  4. ↑ "SB Atwell 2007–08". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  5. ↑ "PGMOL Coaching Structure 2008/09 Confirming Attwell as a Select Group Referee" (PDF). Ref World. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  6. ↑ Vitalnetwork Ltd. "Hereford United – Ref Watch: Stuart Attwell". Hereford.vitalfootball.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 June 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  7. ↑ Cheese, Caroline (23 August 2008). "BBC Football – Premier League Blackburn 1–1 Hull". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  8. ↑ "Phantom goal will haunt rookie referee". The Guardian . London. 21 September 2008. Archived from the original on 25 September 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  9. ↑ "Watford 2–2 Reading". BBC News. 20 September 2008. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  10. ↑ "English refs to officiate in Japan". Japan Football Association. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  11. ↑ "Attwell leaves select group". Sky Sports. 15 February 2012. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  12. ↑ Ley, John (28 October 2014). "Referee Stuart Attwell back in the Premier League after three years spent rebuilding career" . Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  13. ↑ "Games refereed by Stuart Attwell in 2011/2012". Soccer Base. Archived from the original on 2 May 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.