.jpg) Atkinson in 2014 | |||
| Full name | Martin Atkinson | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1971-03-31)31 March 1971 (age 54) Drighlington,West Riding of Yorkshire,[a] England | ||
| Other occupation | Teacher | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1998–2000 |  Football League | Assistant referee | |
| 2000–2003 | Premier League | Assistant referee | |
| 2002–2003 | Football Conference | Referee | |
| 2003–2005 | Football League | Referee | |
| 2005–2022 | Premier League | Referee | |
| 2022–present | Premier League | Referee coach | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2006–2018 | FIFA listed | Referee | |
Martin Atkinson (born 31 March 1971) is an English referee coach and former professionalfootballreferee who officiated primarily in thePremier League. He is a member of theWest Riding County Football Association.[1]
Atkinson made his first appearance as an official inthe Football League as an assistant referee in 1995. Since he was promoted to the list ofSelect Group Referees in 2004 he refereed a number of notable matches, including theFA Community Shield and the finals of theFA Trophy,Football League Cup,FA Cup andUEFA Europa League. Atkinson retired from field duties at the end of the 2021–22 season and will coach the select group one referees for Premier League in the 2022–23 season.[2]
Atkinson started his refereeing career at the relatively early age of 16 years, as the local team did not have a referee to oversee matches. By 1998, he had been promoted tothe Football League's list ofassistant referees.
This was followed in 2000 by promotion to the Select Group of assistant referees. By December 2002 he was refereeingFootball Conference matches,[3] and also refereed the 2003FA County Youth Cup final.[4]
At the start of the2003–04 season, Atkinson joined the national list of referees. He had the distinction of notsending off any player from the field of play between August 2004 and October 2005.
Atkinson made his Premier League officiating debut on 18 September 2004 in a match betweenCrystal Palace andManchester City.[citation needed]
During the three seasons between 2003 and 2006, Atkinson issued only eight red cards in 102 matches, an average of less than 0.08 per game.
In 2006 Atkinson was appointed to the list ofFIFA referees.[5]
The2009–10 season saw Atkinson referee 48 matches in English football, his highest tally of appointments in one season to date.
In September 2010, Atkinson was handed a one-week demotion to the role of fourth official after a time-keeping dispute withEverton managerDavid Moyes. Everton had scored two injury-time goals to make the score 3–3 against Manchester United, but Atkinson then blew his final whistle while Everton were midway through an attack with a chance of a winner.[6][better source needed]
On 22 May 2022, Atkinson was in charge of his final Premier league match, betweenCrystal Palace andManchester United atSelhurst Park, which also happens to be the ground he made his debut 17 years ago.[citation needed] At the time of his retirement, he had refereed 462 games in the Premier league, which is second highest in the competition, afterMike Dean's 560.[citation needed]
Atkinson refereed the2006 FA Community Shield match at theMillennium Stadium inCardiff.Liverpool defeatedChelsea 2–1, with Atkinson issuing four yellow cards during the course of the game.[7]
| Chelsea | 1–2 | Liverpool |
|---|---|---|
Shevchenko 44'Ballack  7'Lampard 15'Diarra 68' | (Report) | Riise 9' Crouch 80'Alonso 61' |
Atkinson was appointed to referee the2008 FA Trophy Final atWembley Stadium, which was contested betweenEbbsfleet United andTorquay United.[8]
| Ebbsfleet United | 1–0 | Torquay United |
|---|---|---|
| McPhee 45' Smith McCarthy Moore | (Report) | Rice |
Atkinson was appointed to officiate the2011 FA Cup final.Manchester City defeatedStoke City 1–0; Atkinson issued two yellow cards to two Stoke players during the match.
| Manchester City | 1–0 | Stoke City |
|---|---|---|
| Y. Touré 74' | Report | Wilkinson 76' Huth 40' |
Atkinson refereed the2014 Football League Cup final betweenManchester City andSunderland. City won the match 3–1 and Atkinson cautioned two players, both late in the second half.
| Manchester City | 3–1 | Sunderland |
|---|---|---|
| Touré 55' Nasri 56'Navas 90'Negredo 90' | Report | Borini 10' Alonso 90' |
On 13 October 2007, Atkinson refereed agroup C qualifier forEuro 2008 betweenMoldova andTurkey. The game in the Moldovan capital Chişinău ended a 1–1 draw, with the referee showing two yellow cards.
The 2008–09 season was the first that Atkinson took charge ofUEFA Champions League games. That season he refereed four matches, includingFC Zürich againstReal Madrid andInter Milan versusDynamo Kyiv.[9] In 2010 Atkinson wasfourth official toHoward Webb for theChampions League final in Madrid. He issued his first Champions League red card on 5 April 2011, toCristian Chivu of Inter Milan as they lost 5–2 at home toSchalke.
Atkinson officiated multiple matches during2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification, including theUEFA group 4 qualifying game betweenGermany andFinland in Hamburg on 14 October 2009 which ended 1–1.[10] One month later, he officiatedPortugal's 1–0 qualifying win overBosnia and Herzegovina.
He officiated atEuro 2012 as anadditional assistant referee in a team with refereeHoward Webb.[11]
The referee abandoned aEuro 2016 qualifying match in Belgrade betweenSerbia andAlbania on 14 October 2014 when violence on the pitch and crowd disturbances broke out after aquadcopter was flown over the pitch bearing a flag ofGreater Albania.[12]
On 27 May 2015, Atkinson was in charge of the2015 UEFA Europa League Final betweenSevilla andDnipro. Seville won 3-2 and defended their title.
Atkinson refereed 3 games atEuro 2016:Germany vUkraine andHungary vPortugal at group stage, as well as a round of 16 game betweenWales andNorthern Ireland.
With no English officials being selected for the2018 World Cup, the first time since 1938,[13] Atkinson refereed his last international match in March 2018, a friendly between Argentina and Italy at theEtihad Stadium in Manchester.[14] Atkinson would referee theManchester Derby at the same stadium less than a month later, a performance that was criticised by former Premier League refereeKeith Hackett who stated "if you want proof of why no English referee will be represented at this summer’s World Cup finals in Russia, look no further than Martin Atkinson’s performance at the Etihad on Saturday."[15]
Atkinson was born inDrighlington,West Riding of Yorkshire,[a] but is now based nearLeeds.
| Season | Games | Total | per game | Total | per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 9 | 28 | 3.11 | 3 | 0.33 |
| 2003–04 | 26 | 61 | 2.34 | 3 | 0.11 |
| 2004–05 | 38 | 87 | 2.28 | 3 | 0.07 |
| 2005–06 | 38 | 78 | 2.05 | 2 | 0.05 |
| 2006–07 | 42 | 128 | 3.04 | 6 | 0.14 |
| 2007–08 | 42 | 109 | 2.60 | 6 | 0.14 |
| 2008–09 | 40 | 135 | 3.38 | 11 | 0.28 |
| 2009–10 | 48 | 187 | 3.90 | 6 | 0.13 |
| 2010–11 | 41 | 143 | 3.49 | 13 | 0.32 |
| 2011–12 | 40 | 146 | 3.65 | 11 | 0.28 |
| 2012–13 | 36 | 133 | 3.69 | 1 | 0.03 |
| 2013–14 | 39 | 118 | 3.03 | 3 | 0.08 |
| 2014–15 | 48 | 193 | 4.02 | 11 | 0.23 |
| 2015–16 | 46 | 169 | 3.67 | 1 | 0.02 |
| 2016–17 | 43 | 146 | 3.40 | 3 | 0.07 |
| 2017–18 | 33 | 118 | 3.58 | 5 | 0.15 |
| 2018–19 | 34 | 110 | 3.24 | 2 | 0.06 |
| 2019–20 | 36 | 110 | 3.06 | 5 | 0.14 |
| 2020–21 | 30 | 71 | 2.37 | 2 | 0.07 |
| 2021–22 | 28 | 75 | 2.68 | 3 | 0.11 |
| Total | 737 | 2345 | 3.18 | 100 | 0.14 |
Statistics for all competitions. No records are available prior to 2002–03.[16]
| Preceded by | FA Community Shield referee 2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | FA Trophy Final referee 2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | FA Cup Final referee 2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | UEFA Europa League Final referee 2015 | Succeeded by |