Stuart Attwell

Stuart Attwell
Full name Stuart Steven Attwell
Born (1982-10-06) 6 October 1982
Nuneaton, England
Domestic
Years League Role
2007– The Football League Referee
2008–2012 Premier League Referee
International
Years League
2009– Referee

Stuart Steven Attwell (born 6 October 1982) is an English football referee from Nuneaton, Warwickshire,[1] who officiates primarily in the Football League for Walsall.

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

Career

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 2 fixture between Hereford United and Rotherham United. He first officiated in League 1 when taking charge of a game between Swansea City and Gillingham. Attwell continued to be promoted and on 26 December 2007 he made his League 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 2 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.[1] On 23 August 2008, he made his Premier League debut when he refereed a 1–1 draw between Blackburn Rovers and Hull City.[6]

Attwell and one of his assistants, Nigel Bannister, were censured for a decision to award a "ghost goal"[7][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 all draw between Derby County and Nottingham Forest. The press furore around his display[10][11] saw Attwell called in for a meeting with the referees' chief Keith Hackett[12] and he was demoted from the following week's fixture list.[13]

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.[14]

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. In a statement, Professional Game Match Officials Limited general manager Mike Riley backed Attwell to improve as a referee and return to the top level: "Throughout his career in the Select Group Stuart has demonstrated great courage and mental strength in responding to the challenges that he has faced. Stuart has a high level of maturity and responsibility and I'm convinced that he has a long-term future as a referee at the very highest level. PGMOL sincerely hopes to be welcoming Stuart back to the Select Group in the future."

Career statistics

England

SeasonGamesTotal per gameTotal Red cardRed card per game
2007–0832521.6290.28
2008–0930943.1380.26
2009–1026953.6540.15
2010–1125793.1620.08
2011–12321023.1960.19
2012–13441292.9330.07

Statistics for all competitions, including domestic, European and international. No records available prior to 2007–08.[15]

Japan

SeasonGamesTotal per gameTotal Red cardRed card per game
20102189.0000.00

References

  1. 1 2 Vitalnetwork Ltd. "Hereford United – Ref Watch: Stuart Attwell". Hereford.vitalfootball.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
  2. ↑ McKenzie, Andrew (2008-06-25). "BBC SPORT | Football | Premier League | Premier League names youngest ref". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
  3. ↑ "Staffs graduate is Premier League's youngest ever referee". Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  4. ↑ "SB Atwell 2007–08". Soccerbase. 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. ↑ Cheese, Caroline (2008-08-23). "BBC Football – Premier League Blackburn 1–1 Hull". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
  7. ↑ Mike Walters. "Exclusive: Blunder Watford v Reading referee Stuart Atwell axed from Carling Cup tie". Mirror Online. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  8. ↑ "Assistant referee Bannister dropped after phantom goal". Daily Mail (London). 23 September 2008.
  9. ↑ "Watford 2–2 Reading". BBC News. 20 September 2008.
  10. ↑ Lansley, Peter (3 November 2008). "Stuart Attwell decisions spark new storm". timesonline.co.uk (London). Retrieved 3 December 2011. (subscription required (help)).
  11. ↑ Poll, Graham (2 November 2008). "Headache for Hackett with new referees Attwell and Jones at the centre of attention". Daily Mail (London). Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  12. ↑ "Hackett to meet Attwell". Derby Telegraph. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  13. ↑ Lansley, Peter. "Referee Stuart Attwell axed after weekend blunders at Derby County". timesonline.co.uk (London). Retrieved 3 December 2011. (subscription required (help)).
  14. ↑ "English refs to officiate in Japan". Japan Football Association. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  15. ↑ "Games refereed by Stuart Attwell in 2011/2012". Soccer Base. Retrieved 8 September 2014.

External links

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