Stephen J. Tanner (born 21 October 1970 in Bristol) is an English former association 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 titl ...

who operated in the Premier League and The Football League. Tanner was also a

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

listed referee between 2008 and 2009.

Career

He began refereeing in 1987, eventually officiating in the Southern League until 2002, during which he was promoted to the list of Football League

assistant 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 ...

s (in 1998). He was a referee in the Football Conference South from 2002 to 2003. As an assistant referee, Tanner officiated in the 2003 FA Trophy final.Profile
: the Football League official website. Retrieved on 23 March 2008. In the same year, he progressed to the National List of Football League referees, taking control of his first match on 9 August 2003, between Football League Third Division sides Kidderminster and Mansfield Town, the home side winning 2–1. He took charge of the Championship play-off

semi-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

second leg between Watford and Crystal Palace at Vicarage Road on 9 May 2006, which ended 0–0. Tanner was promoted to the PGMO Ltd Select Group of referees at the start of the 2007–08 season. He had already refereed three Premier League games in the previous season as 'trial' matches, the first of which was the encounter between Reading and Everton at the Madejski Stadium on 23 December 2006, with the away side winning 2–0. However, the second of those appointments, Watford against Wigan Athletic, was abandoned early in the second half due to heavy rain with the score at 1–1. The match was subsequently struck from Premier League records. On 13 May 2007, Tanner was man-in-the-middle for the Championship play-off

first leg between Wolves and West Bromwich Albion at Molineux, which finished in a 3–2 away win. On 1 January 2008 he was added to the

list of referees, allowing him to referee in international and continental competitions. Tanner had his place on the select group of referees relinquished, along with

Keith Stroud Keith Paul Stroud (born 12 August 1969
: the Football League official ...

, in November 2009, and has therefore also lost his place on the international list for 2010. PGMOL statement at refwrold.com
/ref> Following the 2011/12 football season, Tanner took up the role of Referee Development Officer at

Gloucestershire FA The Gloucestershire County Football Association, also simply known as the ''Gloucestershire FA'' or ''GFA'', is the governing body of football in the county of Gloucestershire. It was formed in 1886. History The Gloucestershire County Footb ...

, and subsequently retired from refereeing.

Career statistics

References

External links

Steve Tanner Referee Statistics
at soccerbase.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Tanner, Steve 1970 births English football referees Premier League referees People from Somerset Living people