Neil Swarbrick (born 20 December 1965) is an English retired

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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 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 Foo ...

having been promoted to the Select Group of Referees in 2011. He is based in

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

, Lancashire, and is a member of the

Lancashire County Football Association The Lancashire County Football Association, also known simply as the Lancashire FA, is the governing body of football within the historical county boundaries of Lancashire, England. They are responsible for the governance and development of foot ...

Career

Swarbrick took up refereeing relatively late, at the age of 29. Within six years he was promoted to the National List of

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. He fulfilled this role for four years before being added to the Referees' List. He refereed in the Football Conference until moving up into

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 ...

. He has also officiated

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

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 the ...

matches. Swarbrick's first

appointment came in December 2010 when he took charge of a goalless draw between

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. During his second Premier League appointment in February 2011 Swarbrick issued his first red card in England's top division, to

DJ Campbell Dudley Junior Campbell (born 12 November 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. Campbell's early career was in non-League football between 2000 and 2005, during which time he was capped by England C. Followi ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

as they lost 4–0 away to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. It was announced on 20 June 2011 that Swarbrick had been promoted to the Select Group of Referees who officiate all Premier League fixtures. He joined the Select Group for the 2011/12 season alongside fellow newly promoted official Jonathan Moss. After a match between

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

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 Park ...

on 24 February 2018, Swarbrick attracted criticism for his performance. In the game, he awarded 16 fouls to the away side, and only one to home side, which was seen as an unfair imbalance between the two sides. Swarbrick also turned down a penalty appeal for Wednesday, Villa defender

John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the assi ...

appeared to get away with what looked like a red card offence for a foul on striker

Atdhe Nuhiu Atdhe Nuhiu (; born 29 July 1989) is a Kosovan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Austrian Bundesliga club SC Rheindorf Altach. Club career SV Ried On 31 August 2009, on the deadline day, Nuhiu completed a transfer to SV Ried o ...

, and he awarded a questionable late penalty to Villa. His performance was defended by former Premier League referee

Roger Dilkes Roger Dilkes (born 16 August 1948) is an English former football referee who officiated in the Football League and Premier League. During his time on the National List he was based in Mossley, Lancashire. Career Dilkes became a Football League ...

. Swarbrick retired from refereeing at the end of the 2017/18 season however will continue to work and lead the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the Premier League. He is Head of Implementation of VAR in the Premier League and is involved in the training of Select Group 1 and Select Group 2 referees to use VAR when it is introduced in the 2019/20 season. His use of VAR and understanding of the game of football was called into question during the all premier league FA Cup tie between Brighton and Liverpool, and West Ham v Chelsea missing a blatant handball.

PStatistics

References

External links

Neil Swarbrick Referee Statistics
at Soccerbase.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Swarbrick, Neil English football referees Living people 1965 births Sportspeople from Preston, Lancashire Premier League referees