Mike Jones (referee)

Mike Jones

Full name	Michael J. Jones
Born	18 April 1968 Chester, Cheshire, England
Domestic
Years	League	Role
1997–	The Football League	Referee
2008–	Premier League	Referee

Michael J. Jones (born 18 April 1968) is an English professional football referee based in Chester. He is a member of the Cheshire County Football Association.

He began refereeing in the Football League in 1997 and was promoted in 2008 to the list of Select Group Referees who officiate all Premier League fixtures. In 2009 he refereed the FA Trophy final at Wembley Stadium.

Career

Jones was promoted to the Football League's list of referees in 1997, his first match in charge being Mansfield Town against Hull City in August of that year.

His first game at Wembley Stadium was also in 2007: the Football League Two play-off final which saw Bristol Rovers defeat Shrewsbury Town 3–1. Jones dismissed Shrewsbury's Marc Tierney in the last minute for a second bookable offence: Tierney became the second man to be sent off at the new Wembley.

In 2008 Jones became a Select Group referee, allowing him to regularly officiate games in the Premier League. His first match in England's top flight was Hull City versus Wigan Athletic.

In October 2009 Jones infamously allowed to stand a bizarre goal scored by Darren Bent for Sunderland against Liverpool. Bent's shot at goal took a deflection off a beach ball which had been thrown onto the pitch by a fan in the Liverpool supporters' section. Under the Laws of the Game, the beach ball should have been considered an "outside agent" and Jones should have disallowed the goal and awarded a drop-ball.^[1] He was subsequently demoted for one week to officiate a match in the Football League Championship.^[2] The beach ball from the incident was sent for display at England's National Football Museum in Manchester.

Jones was the fourth official for the 2012 FA Cup Final, with Phil Dowd taking charge.^[3]

In October 2013 Jones was required to act upon another bizarre incident where a goal was apparently scored under controversial circumstances. In the final moments of a Premier League game between Norwich City and Cardiff City which was to end 0–0, Cardiff's goalkeeper David Marshall had put the ball out of play to allow Norwich's Alexander Tettey to receive treatment from a physio. Ricky van Wolfswinkel took the subsequent throw for Norwich and his teammate Leroy Fer tapped the ball into the net as Marshall looked on. The apparent goal, which sparked a brawl on the pitch, was disallowed by Jones who stated he had not blown his whistle to restart play. Cardiff's manager Malky Mackay praised the official's decision.^[4]

In late 2014 Jones was the subject of controversy following Southampton's 3–0 defeat to Manchester City, during which he failed to award City a penalty for a foul on Sergio Agüero, instead booking the striker for diving.^[5] The following weekend, Jones officiated a Championship match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bournemouth. During that match, he made a number of debatable decisions, including dismissing Wolves' Rajiv van La Parra after a clash of heads with Bournemouth defender Steve Cook,^[6] and incorrectly awarding Bournemouth a corner which led to the visitors scoring the winning goal.^[7] Van La Parra's red card was subsequently rescinded,^[8] and Jones was dropped from the refereeing roster for the next week's fixtures.^[9]

On 1 January 2015 Jones awarded Liverpool two disputed penalties in a 2–2 draw with Leicester City. Liverpool's first penalty was given for a handball against Wes Morgan, though replays showed the ball clearly struck Morgan in the face.^[10]

Statistics

Season	Games	Total	per game	Total	per game
1997/98	29	68	2.34	2	0.07
1998/99	33	82	2.48	4	0.12
1999/00	38	82	2.16	5	0.13
2000/01	34	68	2.00	10	0.29
2001/02	36	111	3.08	9	0.25
2002/03	30	76	2.53	3	0.10
2003/04	33	103	3.12	8	0.24
2004/05	37	88	2.38	7	0.19
2005/06	39	109	2.79	5	0.13
2006/07	41	160	3.90	12	0.29
2007/08	45	134	2.98	7	0.15
2008/09	38	110	2.89	6	0.16
2009/10	33	110	3.33	5	0.15
2010/11	35	119	3.40	6	0.17
2011/12	33	112	3.39	9	0.27
2012/13	31	85	2.74	3	0.10

Statistics are for all competitions. There are no available records prior to 1997/98.^[11]

References

1. "Benitez shrugs off bizarre goal". BBC Sport. 17 October 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
2. "'Beach ball goal' referee demoted to Championship but match will not be replayed". Metro (dmg media). 19 October 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
3. "Phil Dowd to referee FA Cup final". The Daily Telegraph (London). 17 April 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
4. Aizlewood, John (27 October 2013). "Norwich City 0 Cardiff City 0: ‘Goal’ sparks 18-man brawl". The Sunday Times (Times Newspapers Ltd). Retrieved 27 October 2013.
5. Strange, Joe (1 December 2014). "Referee Mike Jones will not take charge of a Premier League fixture this weekend after booking Sergio Aguero for diving". Mail Online (Associated Newspapers Ltd). Retrieved 12 December 2014.
6. Scott, Ged (6 December 2014). "Wolves 1 - 2 Bournemouth". BBC Sport (BBC). Retrieved 12 December 2014.
7. "Chairman Morgan confronts referee on the pitch as Wolves lose". Cannock Mercury (Local World). 6 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
8. "Wolves: Rajiv van La Parra red card rescinded, Doherty banned". BBC Sport (BBC). 9 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
9. "Controversial Wolves referee not given game this weekend". Royal Sutton Coldfield Observer (Local World). 9 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
10. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2893546/Mike-Jones-worst-penalty-decision-ball-hits-Wes-Morgan-face-Liverpool-lead-says-Gary-Lineker.html
11. "Games refereed by M J Jones". SoccerBase. Racing Post. Retrieved 4 November 2012.

External links

• Mike Jones Referee Statistics at soccerbase.com