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| Born | (1971-07-08)8 July 1971 (age 54) Bristol, England[1] | ||
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Kevin Friend (born 8 July 1971)[2] is a former professionalfootballreferee based inLeicester. He is a member of theLeicestershire and Rutland County Football Association.
His most notable appointments have been to referee the2012 Community Shield, played atVilla Park, the2013 League Cup final which was held atWembley Stadium, and the2019 FA Cup final which was also held at Wembley.
Friend started refereeing at the age of 14 in his home county of Leicestershire. He officiated in theLeicestershire Senior League andMidland Football Alliance before being promoted to the National List of Referees, and later to the Select Group of Referees ahead of the2009–10 season. His first Premier League fixture was on 20 September 2009: a 2–1 victory forWolverhampton Wanderers overFulham; Friend showed two yellow cards during his debut appointment in England's top-flight.
Friend issued his first Premier League red card on 15 December 2009 toSunderland captainLorik Cana for a second bookable offence in his team's 2–0 defeat toAston Villa.
He refereed the 2009FA Vase final atWembley Stadium on 10 May betweenWhitley Bay andGlossop North End, won 2–0 by the Bay.
During aFootball League One match in 2010 betweenNorwich City andMilton Keynes Dons Friend issued 11 yellow cards, including two to Dons playerAaron Wilbraham.[3]
Friend showed a red card toSunderland defenderWes Brown in a 2013 Premier League match against Stoke City, which the FA later rescinded.[4][5]
In 2016, Friend was controversially prevented from officiating aPremier League match betweenStoke City and title contendersTottenham Hotspur, due to him being a supporter of fellow title challengersLeicester City.[6]
At the end of the2021–22 season, Friend retired from officiating, but will continue to work for PGMOL as manager of the Select Group 2 referees.[7]
On 3 July 2012, it was announced that Friend would referee the2012 FA Community Shield, played on 12 August atVilla Park.[8] His assistants were Michael McDonough and Richard West, andAnthony Taylor was the fourth official.
Chelsea were defeated 3–2 byManchester City.Branislav Ivanović was sent off for the Blues for a high challenge towards the end of the first half. Ivanović did not serve any subsequent suspension, however, after FA rule changes regarding pre-season fixtures.[9]
Friend refereed the2013 League Cup final atWembley Stadium on 24 February. The match was contested byLeague 2'sBradford City andPremier LeagueSwansea City.
Swansea won the final 5–0.[10]An incident early in the second-half, when the Premier League side were already 3–0 up, saw Friend adjudge Bradford goalkeeperMatt Duke to have committed aprofessional foul. The official dismissed Duke and awarded Swansea apenalty kick, which was converted byJonathan de Guzmán; he also scored again in the 90th minute. The other Swansea goals came courtesy ofNathan Dyer (2) andMichu.[11]
Friend refereed the2019 FA Cup final atWembley Stadium on 18 May 2019. The match was contested betweenManchester City andWatford, with Manchester City winning the match 6–0.
| Season | Games | Total | per game | Total | per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–04 | 27 | 98 | 3.63 | 4 | 0.15 |
| 2004–05 | 37 | 107 | 2.89 | 7 | 0.19 |
| 2005–06 | 21 | 45 | 2.14 | 2 | 0.09 |
| 2006–07 | 34 | 87 | 2.56 | 6 | 0.18 |
| 2007–08 | 41 | 100 | 2.44 | 11 | 0.27 |
| 2008–09 | 46 | 124 | 2.69 | 6 | 0.13 |
| 2009–10 | 34 | 133 | 3.91 | 7 | 0.21 |
| 2010–11 | 33 | 116 | 3.52 | 7 | 0.21 |
| 2011–12 | 33 | 120 | 3.64 | 3 | 0.09 |
| 2012–13 | 34 | 120 | 3.53 | 3 | 0.09 |
| 2013–14 | 31 | 98 | 3.16 | 1 | 0.03 |
| 2014–15 | 35 | 141 | 4.03 | 5 | 0.14 |
| 2015–16 | 31 | 100 | 3.23 | 6 | 0.06 |
| 2016–17 | 32 | 127 | 3.97 | 2 | 0.06 |
| 2017–18 | 33 | 66 | 2.00 | 1 | 0.03 |
| 2018–19 | 39 | 139 | 3.56 | 3 | 0.08 |
| 2019–20 | 33 | 89 | 2.70 | 8 | 0.24 |
| 2020–21 | 31 | 74 | 2.39 | 3 | 0.10 |
| 2021–22 | 28 | 109 | 3.89 | 2 | 0.07 |
Statistics are for all competitions as of 18 May 2019. No records are available prior to 2003–04.[12]