Graham David Scott (born 10 October 1968) is an English 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 ...

who officiates 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 ...

Education

He was educated at

Abingdon School Abingdon School is a day and boarding independent school for boys in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The twentieth oldest independent British school, it celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2006. The school was described as "highly ...

from 1980 until 1987 and the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...

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. 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. He joined the National List of referees in 2008, officiating many important games, including

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...

's upset of

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ce ...

in the

2012–13 Football League Cup The 2012–13 Football League Cup (known as the Capital One Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 53rd season of the Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Cara ...

. In November 2014 he officiated his first Premier League match, between

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...

and

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 2015, he was promoted to the

Select Group of 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 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". The

PGMOL {{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 ...

sought to demote Scott at the end of the 2016–17 season after he refereed just eight Premier League matches all season – of the 19 Select Group referees, only Lee Probert refereed fewer matches. 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. He has established a reputation for consistent game management, as well as actively discouraging time-wasting, diving, and dissent, which has garnered some praise from football pundits and journalists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Graham 1968 births Living people English football referees People educated at Abingdon School People from Oxfordshire Premier League referees

Education

Football career

See also

References