Peter Walton (born 10 October 1959) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

former 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 officiated 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 ...

from 2003 to 2012. Beginning 2013, he was general manager of the

Professional Referee Organization Professional Referee Organization (PRO) is the organization responsible for managing the referee and assistant referee program in professional soccer leagues in the United States and Canada, working alongside the United States Soccer Federat ...

(PRO) in North America until being replaced by

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 ...

in January 2018. Walton is also a former player in the

United Counties League The United Counties League (also known after its sponsor as the ''Uhlsport United Counties League'') is an English football league covering Northamptonshire, Rutland and Bedfordshire and most of Leicestershire as well as parts of Buckingham ...

. He is based in

Long Buckby Long Buckby is a large village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. In 2020 the parish of Long Buckby, which includes the hamlet of Long Buckby Wharf, was estimated to have a population of 4,303. Long Buckby is hill top village, ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, the village which he played his football for. He lists his interests as current affairs and golf. During his professional career which spanned nearly 20 years, Walton refereed a number of notable matches, including the 2003 final of the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

and 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 ...

in 2008.

Career

Walton began refereeing in 1986 in local leagues. He was appointed to the assistant referees' lists of

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 ...

in 1993, and the

in 1994. In 1996, he was an assistant referee for 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 ...

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 ...

, when

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 ...

defeated

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

with a late

Eric Cantona Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (; ; born 24 May 1966) is a French actor, director, producer, and former professional footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Cantona is credited as having made Manchester United a d ...

goal. In the same year he became a FIFA assistant referee, officiating in that capacity during Euro '96 in England, notably in a group-stage match between

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

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 ...

, which Germany won 2–0. Walton was promoted to the Football League list of referees in 1998. At this point, he also stepped down from the FIFA assistant referees' list. In 2003, he was added to the Select Group of referees and took charge of the

final between

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

and

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Park ...

on 6 April, with the Robins triumphing 2–0. He also refereed a Division 1 play-off semi-final second leg and a

Division 3 In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football * Belgian Th ...

play-off semi-final first leg at the end of the 2002-03 season. His first Premier League appointment was a 4–3 home win by

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Ro ...

over

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

Molineux Stadium Molineux Stadium ( ) in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, has been the home ground of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers since 1889. The first stadium built for use by a Football League club, it was one of the first British groun ...

on 25 October 2003. At the end of January 2007, Walton accompanied Regional Referees' Manager

Ray Olivier Raymond J. H. Olivier (born 21 September 1958) is an English former Football (soccer), football Referee (association football), referee, who operated in the Football League in that capacity, and in the Premier League as an Assistant referee (assoc ...

(a Football League referee himself) to

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

, Ecuador, to undertake an Advanced Course for Referees' Instructors on behalf of

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world ...

and CONMEBOL. Olivier is quoted as saying: "It is also a great fillip to have someone of Peter's calibre as part of the team and his experience of refereeing in the Premiership is invaluable to those referees taking part in this workshop." Walton refereed the 2008 FA Community Shield match between

and

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 ...

, issuing three cautions during the game between the Premier League champions and FA Cup winners of the previous season, which United won 3–1 on penalties after extra-time. Walton's last appointment as a Premier League referee was Everton's 2–0 home win over

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...

on 31 March 2012. He then took up a new role as the general manager of the

(PRO) for the Football Leagues in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, from 2 April 2012. Upon his appointment, Walton said to proreferees.com: "I think the referees we've got in North America are very good. "I think the competitive nature of our leagues are very good as well and what I'm intending to do is match-up the referee abilities to that of the playing side. "We can see great strides being taken with the league and with the infrastructure, with the players and I must make sure our referees are running parallel to that so we advance at the same pace and there isn't a gap developing or developed." Walton currently works as a referee analyst for BT Sport's coverage of the UEFA Champions League, discussing key decisions and explaining the usage of VAR, both in-game and post-match. During the 2019 Champions League semi-final second leg between Tottenham and Ajax, a celebrating Walton, in his BT studio, was inadvertently broadcast in the midst of the dramatic scenes following Tottenham's late winning goal. Walton also regularly appears on

ESPN FC ESPN FC (formerly ESPN SoccerNet) is a website and a U.S. television studio program covering soccer that is broadcast daily over the streaming service ESPN+. ESPN FC's origin was a website owned by ESPN Inc. Originally established in 1995 as ...

Card statistics

References

External links

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archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, Peter 1959 births English football referees Premier League referees Living people People from Long Buckby

Career

Card statistics

See also

References

External links