Martin Atkinson (born 31 March 1971) is an English referee coach and retired professional football referee who officiated primarily in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. He is a member of the

West Riding County Football Association The West Riding County Football Association is the sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in northern parts of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Its headquarters are in the village of Woodlesford, south east ...

. Atkinson made his first appearance as an official in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

as an assistant referee in 1995. Since he was promoted to the list of

Select Group Referees The Select Group is a panel of English professional football referees and assistant referees, appointed by Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL). Select Group 1 In August 2022, the PGMOL announced the referees and assistant referee ...

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 The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

and

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. 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.

Career

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 to

's list of assistant referees. This was followed in 2000 by promotion to the Select Group of assistant referees. By December 2002 he was refereeing

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

matches, and also refereed the 2003 FA County Youth Cup final. At the start of the 2003–04 season, Atkinson joined the national list of referees. He had the distinction of not sending 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 between

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

and Manchester City. 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 of FIFA referees. The 2009–10 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 with Everton manager David 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. On 22 May 2022, Atkinson was in charge of his final Premier league match, between

and Manchester United at Selhurst Park, which also happens to be the ground he made his debut 17 years ago. At the time of his retirement, he had refereed 462 games in the Premier league, which is second highest in the competition, after Mike Dean's 560.

2006 FA Community Shield

Atkinson refereed the

2006 FA Community Shield The 2006 FA Community Shield was the 84th staging of the FA Community Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the Premier League and FA Cup. The match was played between 2005–06 FA Cup winners Liverpool and 2005–06 Pre ...

match at the Millennium Stadium in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

defeated

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

2–1, with Atkinson issuing four yellow cards during the course of the game. ---- ----

2008 FA Trophy final

Atkinson was appointed to referee the

2008 FA Trophy Final The 2008 FA Trophy Final was the 39th final of the Football Association's cup competition for levels 5–8 of the English football league system. It was contested by Ebbsfleet United and Torquay United on 10 May 2008 at Wembley Stadium in London. ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

, which was contested between

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1946 fr ...

and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. ---- ----

2011 FA Cup final

Atkinson was appointed to officiate the

2011 FA Cup Final The 2011 FA Cup Final was the 130th final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest domestic football cup competition. The final took place on 14 May 2011 at Wembley Stadium in London in front of 88,643 spectators and a British television audience of m ...

. Manchester City defeated Stoke City 1–0; Atkinson issued two yellow cards to two Stoke players during the match. ---- ----

2014 Football League Cup final

Atkinson refereed the 2014 Football League Cup Final between Manchester City and Sunderland. City won the match 3–1 and Atkinson cautioned two players, both late in the second half. ---- ----

Europe and international

On 13 October 2007, Atkinson refereed a group C qualifier for

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of Europea ...

between

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. 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 of

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

games. That season he refereed four matches, including

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

against Real Madrid and

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

versus

Dynamo Kyiv Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society, the club as a separate business entity was officia ...

. In 2010 Atkinson was

fourth official In association football, an assistant referee (previously known as a linesman or lineswoman) is an official empowered with assisting the referee in enforcing the Laws of the Game during a match. Although assistants are not required under the L ...

Howard Webb 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 co ...

for the

Champions League final The UEFA Champions League is a seasonal football competition established in 1955. Prior to the 1992–93 season, the tournament was named the European Cup. The UEFA Champions League is open to the league champions of all UEFA (Union of European ...

in Madrid. He issued his first Champions League red card on 5 April 2011, to

Cristian Chivu Cristian Eugen Chivu (; born 26 October 1980) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Inter Milan's under-19 side. A defender, he began his career with hometown club CSM Reșița before moving to ...

of Inter Milan as they lost 5–2 at home to Schalke. Atkinson officiated multiple matches during 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification, including the UEFA group 4 qualifying game between

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in Hamburg on 14 October 2009 which ended 1–1. One month later, he officiated

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

's 1–0 qualifying win over

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. He officiated at

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

as an additional assistant referee in a team with referee

. The referee abandoned a Euro 2016 qualifying match in Belgrade between

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

and

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

on 14 October 2014 when violence on the pitch and crowd disturbances broke out after a

quadcopter A quadcopter or quadrotor is a type of helicopter with four rotors. Although quadrotor helicopters and convertiplanes have long been flown experimentally, the configuration remained a curiosity until the arrival of the modern UAV or drone. T ...

was flown over the pitch bearing a flag of

Greater Albania Greater Albania is an irredentist and nationalist concept that seeks to unify the lands that many Albanians consider to form their national homeland. It is based on claims on the present-day or historical presence of Albanian populations in th ...

. On 27 May 2015, Atkinson was in charge of the

2015 UEFA Europa League Final The 2015 UEFA Europa League Final was the final match of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, the 44th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the sixth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Eu ...

between

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

and Dnipro. Seville won 3-2 and defended their title. Atkinson refereed 3 games at

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

at group stage, as well as a round of 16 game between

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. With no English officials being selected for the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

, the first time since 1938, Atkinson refereed his last international match in March 2018, a friendly between Argentina and Italy at the

Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

in Manchester. Atkinson would referee the

Manchester Derby The Manchester derby refers to football matches between Manchester City and Manchester United, first contested in 1881. City play at the City of Manchester Stadium in Bradford, east Manchester, while United play at Old Trafford in the borough of ...

at the same stadium less than a month later, a performance that was criticised by former Premier League referee

Keith Hackett Keith Stuart Hackett (born 22 June 1944) is an English former football referee, who began refereeing in local leagues in the Sheffield, South Yorkshire area in 1960. He is counted amongst the top 100 referees of all time in a list maintained b ...

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."

Personal life

Atkinson was born in

Drighlington Drighlington is a village and civil parish in the City of Leeds metropolitan district, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the village lies 5 miles (9 km) south-west of Leeds and 4 miles (6 km ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, but is now based near

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

Statistics

Statistics for all competitions. No records are available prior to 2002–03.

Notes

References

External links

Refworld.comMartin Atkinson Referee Statistics
at

soccerbase ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 60 ...

.com
Martin Atkinson Profile
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Martin 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Bradford Sportspeople from Leeds English football referees UEFA Champions League referees UEFA Europa League referees FA Cup Final referees National League (English football) referees English Football League referees Premier League referees UEFA Euro 2016 referees