.jpg) Attwell in 2022 | |||
| Full name | Stuart Steven Attwell | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1982-10-06)6 October 1982 (age 43) Nuneaton,Warwickshire,England | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2007–2016 | The Football League | Referee | |
| 2008–2012; 2016– | Premier League | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | ||
| 2009– | Referee | ||
Stuart Steven Attwell (born 6 October 1982) is an English referee fromNuneaton,Warwickshire, who currently officiates in thePremier League.
Attwell made a prominent debut in 2008 as the youngest person ever to referee in the Premier League.[1] but was demoted from theSelect Group in February 2012, returning to refereeing in the Football League. He returned to the Select Group in March 2016.[2]
In 1982 he was born inNuneaton,Warwickshire and grew up there. Attwell graduated fromStaffordshire 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 theWest Midlands League andthe Football League.[3]
His promotion to Football League refereeing came ahead of the2007–08 season, officiating his first match on 11 August 2007 in aLeague Two fixture betweenHereford United andRotherham United. He first officiated inLeague One when taking charge of a game betweenSwansea City andGillingham. Attwell continued to be promoted, and on 26 December 2007, he made hisChampionship debut officiating a 1–1 draw betweenSheffield United andBlackpool. In total he refereed five Championship games during the 2007–08 season. On 26 May 2008 Attwell officiated theLeague Two play-off final betweenRochdale andStockport County atWembley Stadium, won 3–2 by Stockport.[4]
Attwell was included in the Select Group of referees for the2008–09 season,[5] making him eligible to referee in thePremier 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 inthe 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 betweenBlackburn Rovers andHull City.[7]
Attwell and one of his assistants, Nigel Bannister, were censured for a decision to award a "ghost goal"[8] toReading in a Championship game atWatford 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 betweenDerby County andNottingham Forest.
On 20 December 2008, Attwell was added to the international list of referees for 2009. Even before that he made an international debut in UEFA Champions League group stage as the 4th official, helping his countryman Atkinson in Minsk, Belarus, during Bate Borisov match against Juventus on the 30th of September 2008.
In July 2010, Attwell officiated inJapaneseJ.League matches for three weeks. Attwell andAnthony Taylor were sent to Japan as part of referee exchange programmes signed between the EnglishFA andJapanese 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 managerMike 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]
Attwell was chosen to referee the2025 FA Cup final betweenCrystal Palace andManchester City.
| Season | Games | Total | per game | Total | per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | 32 | 52 | 1.62 | 9 | 0.28 |
| 2008–09 | 30 | 94 | 3.13 | 8 | 0.26 |
| 2009–10 | 26 | 95 | 3.65 | 4 | 0.15 |
| 2010–11 | 25 | 79 | 3.16 | 2 | 0.08 |
| 2011–12 | 32 | 102 | 3.19 | 6 | 0.19 |
| 2012–13 | 44 | 129 | 2.93 | 3 | 0.07 |
| 2013–14 | 36 | 108 | 3.00 | 9 | 0.25 |
| 2014–15 | 37 | 95 | 2.57 | 4 | 0.11 |
| 2015–16 | 44 | 118 | 2.68 | 4 | 0.09 |
| 2016–17 | 27 | 90 | 3.33 | 8 | 0.30 |
| 2017–18 | 29 | 99 | 3.41 | 3 | 0.10 |
| 2018–19 | 30 | 99 | 3.30 | 4 | 0.13 |
| 2019–20 | 27 | 125 | 4.63 | 5 | 0.19 |
| 2020–21 | 28 | 107 | 3.82 | 4 | 0.14 |
| 2021–22 | 28 | 99 | 3.56 | 1 | 0.04 |
| 2022–23 | 29 | 104 | 3.59 | 3 | 0.10 |
| 2023–24 | 25 | 100 | 4.00 | 5 | 0.20 |
Statistics for all competitions, including domestic, European and international. No records available prior to 2007–08.[13]
| Season | Games | Total | per game | Total | per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2 | 18 | 9.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
