 Moss in 2014 | |||
| Full name | Jonathan Moss | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1970-10-18)18 October 1970 (age 55) Sunderland,County Durham, England | ||
| Other occupation | PE teacher,Record shop owner[1] | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1999–2005 | Northern Counties East/Northern Premier League | Referee | |
| 2003–2005 | The Football League | Assistant referee | |
| 2005–2022 | The Football League | Referee | |
| 2011–2022 | Premier League | Referee | |
Jonathan Moss (born 18 October 1970) is an English former[2] professionalfootballreferee who officiated primarily in thePremier League having been promoted to theSelect Group of Referees in 2011. After his retirement, Moss became Select Group 1 Manager however left the role in March 2024.
He was born inSunderland but is now based inHorsforth, West Yorkshire. He is a member of theWest Riding County Football Association.
Born in Sunderland, Moss grew up as a keen footballer and won a football scholarship atCentral Connecticut State University in the United States but completed his studies with a degree in teaching andphysical education at theUniversity of Leeds.[3] He played junior football at academy level, firstly for his hometown clubSunderland and then forMillwall, but stopped doing so when travel to the London club interfered with his studies.
Moss began taking refereeing courses as part of hisA-level physical education studies. Although he qualified as a referee in 1988 he did not fully focus on his refereeing until he stopped playing football in 1999.[4] Moss was employed by theWestbrook Lane Primary School in Leeds as a physical education teacher, where he taught future Premier League midfielderJames Milner; Milner was later shown ared card by Moss in a Premier League match in 2019.[5]
After progressing through theNorthern Counties East League andNorthern Premier League, Moss was promoted to the National Group of assistant referees in 2003. He was appointed to referee the2005 Conference play-off final betweenCarlisle United andStevenage Borough. He was then promoted to the National Group of Referees who officiate inthe Football League; his first game was betweenShrewsbury andRochdale.[6]
Moss became a regular official in the Football League and was appointed to aPremier League contest in December 2010 betweenWigan Athletic andAston Villa, however it was postponed due to heavy snow. He was later appointed toBirmingham City's visit toBlackpool in January 2011.[7] Moss had been promoted to the list ofSelect Group Referees, who officiate all Premier League matches, for the 2011–12 season alongside fellow newly promoted refereeNeil Swarbrick. He was the referee for the2015 FA Cup Final betweenArsenal andAston Villa.[8]
On 17 April 2016, following a 2–2 draw between Leicester City and West Ham United,[9] Moss' refereeing decisions during the match were heavily scrutinised, withAlan Shearer noting the "inconsistencies were mind-boggling".[10] On 4 February 2018, Moss drew criticism for his refereeing decisions in a Premier League match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, which ended in a 2–2 draw.[11] Moss was seen on camera asking fourth officialMartin Atkinson if there was "anything from TV", even thoughVAR was not in operation, before he decided to award Tottenham a penalty. During stoppage time, Moss consulted with assistant referee Eddie Smart to clarify ifHarry Kane had been offside before awarding Tottenham another penalty. TheProfessional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) admitted that Moss was "misguided" to ask the fourth official for help using television when awarding Tottenham's first penalty, but defended his decisions.[12]
Moss retired from refereeing at the end of the 2021–22 season, and took up a new role of Select Group 1 Manager at the PGMOL which he held until his departure in March 2024.
| Season | Games | Total | per game | Total | per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | 31 | 108 | 3.48 | 8 | 0.26 |
| 2006–07 | 40 | 99 | 2.48 | 9 | 0.23 |
| 2007–08 | 38 | 106 | 2.79 | 7 | 0.18 |
| 2008–09 | 39 | 106 | 2.72 | 7 | 0.18 |
| 2009–10 | 37 | 121 | 3.27 | 8 | 0.22 |
| 2010–11 | 42 | 87 | 2.07 | 10 | 0.24 |
| 2011–12 | 32 | 112 | 3.50 | 11 | 0.34 |
| 2012–13 | 31 | 86 | 2.77 | 1 | 0.03 |
| 2013–14 | 35 | 105 | 3.00 | 4 | 0.11 |
| 2014–15 | 37 | 142 | 3.83 | 9 | 0.24 |
| 2015–16 | 33 | 97 | 2.94 | 7 | 0.22 |
| 2016–17 | 37 | 141 | 3.81 | 3 | 0.08 |
| 2017–18 | 35 | 125 | 3.57 | 4 | 0.11 |
| 2018–19 | 36 | 128 | 3.56 | 7 | 0.20 |
| 2019–20 | 32 | 102 | 3.19 | 3 | 0.09 |
| 2020–21 | 32 | 82 | 2.56 | 2 | 0.06 |
| 2021–22 | 31 | 75 | 2.42 | 4 | 0.13 |
Statistics are for all competitions. No records are available prior to 2005–06.[13]