Graham Scott (referee)

Graham Scott (born 10 October 1968) is an English professional football referee who officiates in the Premier League.

Graham Scott
Born (1968-10-10) 10 October 1968
Oxfordshire, England
Domestic
Years League Role
2006–2008 Football Conference[1] National List of Referees
2008–2015 English Football League[2] National List of Referees
2015– Premier League Select Group of referees[3]

Education

He was educated at Abingdon School and the London School of Economics.

Football career

Scott played football at youth as a goalkeeper for Abingdon Town F.C. in the lower leagues. A long-term back injury was a persistent problem; fearing permanent damage, he retired from playing competitive football at the age of 27.[4]

He started refereeing in 1997, originally at lower-league level and harbouring little serious ambition of progressing to the highest echelon of football officiating. However, following positive feedback from players he decided to take the role more seriously.[5] He joined the National List of referees in 2008, officiating many important games, including Crawley Town's upset of Bolton in the 2012–13 Football League Cup. In November 2014 he officiated his first Premier League match, between Burnley and Aston Villa.[6]

In 2015, he was promoted to the Select Group of Referees, who officiate the matches in the Premier League, replacing long-time referee Chris Foy. In 2016, former referee Keith Hackett suggested that this promotion was "a mistake".[7] The PGMOL sought to demote Scott at the end of the 2016–17 season after he refereed just eight Premier League matches all season[8] – of the 19 Select Group referees, only Lee Probert refereed fewer matches.[9] However, Scott appealed against his demotion and retained his place for the 2017–18 season. A number of improved performances has led to him to officiate an increased number of matches, with 13 Premier League matches and an EFL League Cup semi-final by the end of January 2018.[10][11][12] He has established a reputation for consistent game management, as well as actively discouraging time-wasting, diving,[13] and dissent, which has garnered some praise from football pundits and journalists.[14][15]

See also

References
  1. "Games refereed by Graham Scott in 2007/2008". Soccerbase.com.
  2. "Games refereed by Graham Scott in 2014/2015". Soccerbase.com.
  3. "Profile". Premier League.com.
  4. "One Step at a Time – A Film About Graham Scott". 28 September 2017 – via YouTube.
  5. Edwards, Mark (4 June 2015). "FOOTBALL: Graham Scott promoted to Premier League's select group of referees". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  6. "Games refereed by Graham Scott in 2014/2015". Soccerbase.com.
  7. "Hackett blog: PGMOL need a clear out". You are the ref. 25 January 2016. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018.
  8. "Empathy needed during Manchester City celebrations, Newcastle man deserved ban in Mark Halsey's Ref Review". Offside Podcast. 30 August 2017. Archived from the original on 21 February 2018.
  9. "Keith Hackett reviews the 2016–17 season for English refereeing". You are the ref. 8 June 2017. Archived from the original on 28 January 2018.
  10. "Appointments: Semi final second leg match officials". EFL. 16 January 2018.
  11. "Premier League – Referees Index". Premier League. Archived from the original on 28 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  12. "Manchester City goal against Arsenal clearly offside, plus praise for Graham Scott in Mark Halsey's Ref Review". Offside Podcast. 7 November 2017.
  13. "The week in sport: Great Scott tries to erase diving in one night". The Times. 19 January 2018. So well done, Graham Scott. Forget VAR: here was a referee intent on single-handedly eradicating diving in one night. Alas, nobody has mentioned his courage under fire, only that Willian probably didn’t deserve a booking, but referees like Scott are heroes.
  14. Burt, Jason (17 January 2018). "VAR controversy, Chelsea down to nine men and Antonio Conte furious as Blues beat brave Norwich City on penalties". The Telegraph. Graham Scott CBE, as he should be, is producing a magnificent display of refereeing.
  15. "The three big calls referee Graham Scott made during Chelsea vs Norwich". givemesport.com. 18 January 2018. It was clearly a very busy night for Scott, but in fairness to him he appears to have done pretty well considering the pressure he was under.
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