Christopher Foy (born 20 November 1962
confirmation at

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

official website. Retrieved 26 March 2008.) is an English retired professional football

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...

. Following his first appointment as an official in

in 1994 and his promotion in 2001 to the list of Select Group Referees who officiate 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 Foo ...

, Foy refereed a number of notable matches, including the

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier L ...

and the finals of the

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 competit ...

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by th ...

and

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

. In 2015 Foy retired to become a senior referees' coach for the

Professional Game Match Officials Board {{Use dmy dates, date=January 201.He is a Everton fan. (PGMOL) is the body responsible for match officials in English professional football. Formerly known as the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOB), it was formed when English refere ...

.Referee Foy announces retirement to become PGMOL coach
/ref>

Career

Foy was born in St. Helens,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

, and first started refereeing in 1983. In 1994, he was promoted to

list of assistant referees and progressed to the

assistant referees' list in 1995. He made the step up to the role of referee in the Football League in 1996 and became a Premier League referee in 2001, his first appointment being a 0–0 draw between

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

and

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

in December 2001. Earlier in that year Foy was appointed

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 La ...

for the

final at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway statio ...

, where

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics. ( ...

defeated Forest Green Rovers 1–0. He was also fourth official during the international

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

when

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

lost 2–1 to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Premier League club Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the ...

in March 2002, and in May 2006 for the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

play-off between

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

and

Watford Watford () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal en ...

, the latter winning 3–0. Nine days after the Championship play-off he was fourth official again when England played

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

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after We ...

, the home team winning 3–1. Foy subsequently retired from international activities at the compulsory age of 45 in 2007. In 2007, he was selected to referee the FA Trophy final at

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 Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

between Stevenage Borough and

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed ...

. The match was won 3–2 by Stevenage, with Foy issuing four yellow cards. In 2008 Foy was chosen to carry out fourth official duties at the

FA Cup final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

between

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

and

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

at Wembley Stadium, with Mike Dean refereeing. Foy refereed the

2009 Football League Cup Final The 2009 Football League Cup Final was the final match of the 2008–09 Football League Cup, the 49th season of the Football League Cup, a football competition for the 92 teams in the Premier League and The Football League. The match was played at ...

between

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

, with United securing victory on penalties after a goalless draw. He also took charge of the

2009 FA Community Shield The 2009 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield sponsored by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 87th FA Community Shield, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Premier League and F ...

later that year, contested by Chelsea and Manchester United, with Chelsea winning 4–1 on penalties after extra-time finished 2–2. Foy's highest refereeing honour was to officiate the

in 2010, won 1–0 by Chelsea and during which he issued three cautions to

players and awarded Portsmouth a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

which was missed by

Kevin-Prince Boateng Kevin-Prince Boateng (; born 6 March 1987), also known as Prince, is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or forward for club Hertha BSC. Born in Germany, he represented the Ghana national team. Coming through the youth system ...

four minutes prior to

Didier Drogba Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. He is best known for his career at ...

's winning goal. Foy retired from professional refereeing at the end of the 2014–15 season to become a senior referees' coach for the

, working under

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 ...

Personal life

As an Everton fan, Foy did not referee competitive games involving that club, although he did take charge of an Everton away game at

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

in 2002 before he had declared his interest in the team. Foy was actively involved in the "Don't X The Line" campaign to eradicate abusive or aggressive behaviour from players and spectators at junior and youth matches. He has also supported Knowsley Housing Trust's "Give Rent Arrears the Red Card".

Statistics

There are no available records prior to 1997–98.

References

External links

Chris Foy Profile
at Refworld.com
Chris Foy 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 6 ...

.com
Chris Foy Interview
at FA.com website {{DEFAULTSORT:Foy, Chris 1962 births English football referees Living people Sportspeople from St Helens, Merseyside FA Cup Final referees English Football League referees Premier League referees