Let’s talk about something besides Mark Clattenburg and Manchester United, shall we? There are two big derbies this week: Liverpool v. Everton and Arsenal v. Spurs. (Though, let’s face it, the way my poor Spurs are playing right now, the North London derby may not be much of a contest…) Two of England’s top three FIFA-rated referees will be in action
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Matchweek 4 starts off with a big one: Arsenal v. Manchester City. England’s new Big Man, Mark Clattenburg (who has quite the following amongst the ladies, if my email is any indication), will be in the center for that one, along with ARs Simon Beck and Jake Collin. England’s two other top referees, Michael Oliver and Martin Atkinson, are at
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Light week this week, and we’re seeing a couple of new referee faces. Or, at least, new to this season’s matches. It’s great to see Phil Dowd (above) in action again, and with a big one, too: Tottenham v. Liverpool. Dude’s what? 51? He’s the poster boy for eliminating refereeing age limits. (There are rumors that even FIFA plans to do away with
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The big match this week is undoubtedly on Monday, between last year’s first and third place teams, Manchester City and Liverpool. Michael Oliver gets the nod in that match. Oliver (above) is clearly working his way up the ranks. Mark Clattenburg is still England’s undisputed number one, and he’s at Crystal Palace v. West Ham. Martin Atkinson, another top ref, will take Sunderland v. Manchester
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Well, it’s finally time again! The referees for Matchweek 1 (Saturday, August 16 through Monday, August 18) in the English Premier League have been announced and we’re off to the proverbial races! Mark Clattenburg (above) starts his reign as England’s top referee with two teams who don’t like him: Liverpool and Southampton. (Though, to be fair, it’s not hard to find
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Here are the updated referee appointments for the last matchweek of the season, played on Sunday, May 11. Howard Webb’s got the band back together again – i.e., World Cup team Mike Mullarkey and Darren Cann (above, with Webb, center) – for Hull v. Everton. Mark Clattenburg will be refereeing in the Championship on Monday, so will only be a
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I always love it when Phil Dowd (above) referees Spurs. Lots of potato jokes amongst my crowd. “Is it just me or does Phil Dowd look like a potato with a pack of cards?” “Don’t be silly! Potatoes have eyes.“ (I actually think Phil Dowd is terribly sexy in a weird way. Which I know I probably shouldn’t admit.) Anyhoo… Aside
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The biggest game of the week is undoubtedly Liverpool v. Chelsea. Martin Atkinson (above) is up in the rotation for that one. Hopefully, foaming madman assistant coach Rui Faria will be suspended by then, so Atkinson doesn’t have to hire a bodyguard. Chris Foy, who took a Jonjo Shelvey deflection in the face last weekend, will be fourth official at Fulham
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We’re rapidly running out of daylight on the season, and the title is still undecided. This puts even more pressure on the referees than they usually face. Any mistake could impact who wins the title. Liverpool play at Norwich on Sunday, with Andre Marriner (above) in the middle. Poor Andre has not had the … steadiest of seasons. Let’s hope
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Match Week 34 in Premier League gets extended a tad this week, due to FA Cup and some other make up games. Arsenal are coming off their lucky win over Wigan Athletic in FA Cup to face West Ham, who’ve turned out not to be nearly as bad as they were threatening to be at the beginning of the season. The
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PLAY THE ADVANTAGE 