The Most Famous

REFEREES from United Kingdom

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This page contains a list of the greatest British Referees. The pantheon dataset contains 147 Referees, 11 of which were born in United Kingdom. This makes United Kingdom the birth place of the most number of Referees.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary British Referees of all time. This list of famous British Referees is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of British Referees.

Photo of Jack Taylor

1. Jack Taylor (1930 - 2012)

With an HPI of 50.85, Jack Taylor is the most famous British Referee.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages on wikipedia.

John Keith Taylor (21 May 1930 – 27 July 2012) was an English football referee. Later described by the Football League as "perhaps the finest English referee of all time", Taylor was famous for officiating in the 1974 FIFA World Cup Final during which he awarded two penalties in the first 30 minutes. The first of these penalty kicks, awarded after just a minute of play, was the first penalty kick awarded in a World Cup final.

Photo of Howard Webb

2. Howard Webb (b. 1971)

With an HPI of 50.53, Howard Webb is the 2nd most famous British Referee.  His biography has been translated into 50 different languages.

Howard Melton Webb MBE (born 14 July 1971) is an English former professional football referee who officiated primarily in the Premier League from 2003 to 2014, as well as for FIFA as a FIFA international referee from 2005 to 2014. Webb is counted amongst the all-time top referees by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics and refereed a number of notable matches in England including the FA Cup final, the FA Community Shield and the final of the League Cup. In 2010, he became the first person to referee the finals of both the UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup in the same year. Throughout his professional career, Webb drew praise for his authoritative and respected approach to refereeing from football bodies, pundits, colleagues, players and managers. He announced his retirement in August 2014 to become the technical director of the Professional Game Match Officials Board.

Photo of Graham Poll

3. Graham Poll (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 44.03, Graham Poll is the 3rd most famous British Referee.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Graham Poll (born 29 July 1963) is an English former football referee in the Premier League. With 26 years of experience, he was one of the most prominent referees in English football, often taking charge of the highest-profile games. His final domestic game in a career spanning 1,544 matches was the Championship play-off final on 28 May 2007 between Derby County and West Bromwich Albion. He was the English representative at two World Cups and UEFA Euro 2000, and refereed the 2005 UEFA Cup Final. In his third game of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Croatia vs Australia, he cautioned Croatian defender Josip Šimunić three times before sending him off. Poll retired from refereeing international tournament finals matches shortly afterwards, citing his error in the match. He continued to referee in the Premier League, Champions League and on international games, but said he would not allow himself to be nominated to represent the FA at any tournament finals as he felt he had had his chance.

Photo of Anthony Taylor

4. Anthony Taylor (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 41.53, Anthony Taylor is the 4th most famous British Referee.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Anthony Taylor (born 20 October 1978) is an English professional football referee from Wythenshawe, Manchester. In 2010, he was promoted to the list of Select Group Referees who officiate primarily in the Premier League, and in 2013 became a listed referee for FIFA allowing him to referee European and international matches. In 2015, he officiated the Football League Cup final at Wembley Stadium when Chelsea defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2–0. Taylor returned to Wembley later that year to officiate the Community Shield as Arsenal beat Chelsea 1–0. He refereed the 2017 and 2020 FA Cup finals, both between Chelsea and Arsenal; Arsenal won on both occasions 2–1. Upon the selection, he became the first man to referee a second FA Cup final since Arthur Kingscott in 1901.

Photo of Michael Oliver

5. Michael Oliver (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 38.47, Michael Oliver is the 5th most famous British Referee.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Michael Oliver (born 20 February 1985) is an English professional football referee from Ashington, Northumberland. His county FA is the Northumberland Football Association. He belongs to the Select Group of Referees in England and officiates primarily in the Premier League. He received his FIFA badge in 2012, allowing him to officiate in major international matches. Oliver was appointed to take charge of the final of the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Oliver was promoted to the UEFA Elite Group of Referees in 2018.

Photo of Martin Atkinson

6. Martin Atkinson (b. 1971)

With an HPI of 38.42, Martin Atkinson is the 6th most famous British Referee.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Martin Atkinson (born 31 March 1971) is an English referee coach and retired professional football referee who officiated primarily in the Premier League. He is a member of the West Riding County Football Association. Atkinson made his first appearance as an official in the Football League as an assistant referee in 1995. Since he was promoted to the list of Select Group Referees in 2004 he refereed a number of notable matches, including the FA Community Shield and the finals of the FA Trophy, Football League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA 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.

Photo of Hugh Dallas

7. Hugh Dallas (b. 1957)

With an HPI of 36.77, Hugh Dallas is the 7th most famous British Referee.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Hugh Dallas MBE (born 26 October 1957) is a Scottish former football referee. He officiated at two FIFA World Cup tournaments, in 1998 and 2002; he was appointed fourth official for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final. Dallas also officiated at the 1996 Olympic Games, the 1999 UEFA Cup Final and several UEFA Champions League matches. From June 2009 until November 2010, Dallas was the SFA's Referee Development Officer. He is a UEFA Referee Officer. He is also currently the Referee Development Consultant for TFF's Arbitration Committee, a position he has been occupying since June 2022.

Photo of Michaela Tabb

8. Michaela Tabb (b. 1967)

With an HPI of 35.76, Michaela Tabb is the 8th most famous British Referee.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Michaela Tabb (born 11 December 1967) is a Scottish snooker and pool referee. She established significant milestones for female officials in professional cue sports, beginning in pool, where she officiated at top tournaments such as the WPA World Nine-ball Championship and the Mosconi Cup. She qualified in 2001 to referee on the World Snooker Tour and was the sport's highest profile female referee for the next 14 years. She became the first woman to officiate at a professional ranking snooker tournament at the 2002 Welsh Open, and the first woman to referee a ranking tournament final at the 2007 Welsh Open. She is the only woman to have refereed the World Snooker Championship final, which she did twice, in 2009 and 2012. Tabb left the professional snooker tour in March 2015 following a dispute with the sport's commercial arm, World Snooker Ltd, against which she brought a case alleging sex discrimination, unfair dismissal, and breach of contract. The parties reached an out-of-court settlement in September 2015, under which World Snooker Ltd paid Tabb an undisclosed financial sum. She has continued to referee at pool events and on the World Seniors Tour. Tabb is also a former pool player. In the 1990s and early 2000s, she competed on the women's eight-ball pool circuit, where she won a number of titles as a solo competitor and as a member, and later captain, of the Scottish Ladies' Pool Team.

Photo of Mike Dean

9. Mike Dean (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 34.62, Mike Dean is the 9th most famous British Referee.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Mike Dean (born 2 June 1968) is an English former professional football referee and currently a video assistant referee (VAR) primarily in the Premier League. He is based in Heswall, Wirral, in North West England, and is a member of the Cheshire County Football Association. Since his appointment as a Select Group referee in 2000, Dean has officiated a number of notable matches, including the FA Community Shield and the finals of the FA Cup, Football League Cup and FA Trophy.

Photo of Mark Clattenburg

10. Mark Clattenburg (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 34.10, Mark Clattenburg is the 10th most famous British Referee.  His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Mark Clattenburg (born 13 March 1975) is an English former professional football referee. Clattenburg is a former member of the Premier League and the Durham County Football Association and also a former FIFA referee. He has refereed a number of notable matches, including the 2016 UEFA Champions League final and the UEFA Euro 2016 final. Clattenburg is considered one of the most highly-rated European referees of his generation. Clattenburg is the lead referee in the BBC 2024 revival of TV show Gladiators.

People

Pantheon has 14 people classified as British referees born between 1930 and 1985. Of these 14, 13 (92.86%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living British referees include Howard Webb, Graham Poll, and Anthony Taylor. The most famous deceased British referees include Jack Taylor. As of April 2024, 3 new British referees have been added to Pantheon including Hugh Dallas, Michaela Tabb, and Mike Riley.

Living British Referees

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Deceased British Referees

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Newly Added British Referees (2024)

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