Select Group Referees

The Select Group is a panel of English professional football referees and assistant referees, appointed by Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL). The group was first formed in 2001, when England became the first country to use fully professional referees in its top flight.

Select Group officials

In August 2024, the PGMOL shared updates to the Select Group officiating panels.

Furthermore, in August 2024, the retirement of Rebecca Welch was announced. She will become the manager of the Select Group Women's Professional Game at the PGMOL. In December 2024, David Coote was sacked from the PGMOL, removing him from the Select Group 1 referees list.

There are 20 Select Group 1 referees, 30 Select Group 1 assistant referees, 20 Select Group 2 referees, and 33 Select Group 2 assistant referees.

Select Group 1 referees

* Stuart Attwell
* Peter Bankes
* Sam Barrott
* Darren Bond
* Tom Bramall
* John Brooks
* Darren England
* Jarred Gillett
* Tony Harrington
* Simon Hooper
* Robert Jones
* Chris Kavanagh
* Andy Madley
* Michael Oliver
* Craig Pawson
* Tim Robinson
* Michael Salisbury
* Anthony Taylor
* Paul Tierney

Select Group 1 assistant referees

* Natalie Aspinall
* Simon Bennett
* Gary Beswick
* Lee Betts
* Stuart Burt
* Dan Cook
* Neil Davies
* Nick Greenhalgh
* Constantine Hatzidakis
* Adrian Holmes
* Nick Hopton
* Akil Howson
* Ian Hussin
* Scott Ledger
* Simon Long
* James Mainwaring
* Sian Massey-Ellis
* Steve Meredith
* Adam Nunn
* Marc Perry
* Dan Robathan
* Mark Scholes
* Eddie Smart
* Wade Smith
* Craig Taylor
* Richard West
* Mat Wilkes
* Tim Wood

Select Group 2 referees

* Sam Allison
* Anthony Backhouse
* James Bell
* John Busby
* Matt Donohue
* Leigh Doughty
* Andrew Kitchen
* Oliver Langford
* James Linington
* Bobby Madley
* Steve Martin
* Tom Nield
* Jeremy Simpson
* Josh Smith
* Gavin Ward
* David Webb
* Dean Whitestone

Select Group 2 assistant referees

* Blake Antrobus
* George Byrne
* Ian Cooper
* Adam Crysell
* Andrew Dallison
* Mark Dwyer
* Carl Fitch-Jackson
* Andrew Fox
* Hugh Gilroy
* Paul Hodskinson
* Shaun Hudson
* Jonathan Hunt
* Robert Hyde
* Alex James
* Matthew Jones
* Graham Kane
* Hristo Karaivanov
* Daniel Leach
* Sam Lewis
* Geoffrey Liddle
* Nigel Lugg
* Matthew McGrath
* Greg Read
* Mark Russell
* Bhupinder Singh Gill
* Matthew Smith
* Rob Smith
* Mark Stevens
* Lee Venamore
* Richard Wild
* Darren Williams
* James Wilson
* Richard Woodward

Women's Select Group officials

In summer 2023 and summer 2024, the PGMOL provided updates on the promotions of match officials.

There are 17 Women's Super League referees, 30 Women's Super League assistant referees, 24 Women's Championship referees, and 34 Women's Championship assistant referees, although some officials hold dual roles.

Women's Super League referees

* Lisa Benn
* Mel Burgin
* Abigail Byrne
* Phoebe Cross
* Kirsty Dowle
* Amy Fearn
* Cheryl Foster
* Stacey Fullicks
* Christina Hattersley
* Emily Heaslip
* Lauren Impey
* Lucy May
* Stacey Pearson
* Yasmin Saeed
* Jane Simms
* Adewunmi Soneye
* Megan Wilson

Women's Super League assistant referees

* Natalie Aspinall
* Georgia Ball
* Nicoleta Bria
* Ella Broad
* Emily Carney
* Lorraine Catchpole
* Isabel Chaplin
* Abby Dearden
* Sophie Dennington
* Aaron Ford
* Hannah Gardner
* Magdalena Golba
* Levi Gray
* Leoni Harland
* Harley Hetherington
* Matthew Joyce
* Aimee Keir
* Grace Lowe
* Sian Massey-Ellis
* Lucy-Anne McCann
* David Middleton
* Callum Parke
* Ali Rahjoo
* Lisa Rashid
* Chloe-Ann Small
* Ruby Sykes
* Laura Van Lier
* Anastasiya Voloshchuk
* Lauren Whiteman
* Ceri Williams

Women's Championship referees

* Jon Ashworth-Sears
* Nicoleta Bria
* Ella Broad
* Melissa Cairns
* Isabel Chaplin
* Abby Dearden
* Sophie Dennington
* Ffion Eade
* Aaron Ford
* Hannah Gardner
* Magda Golba
* Levi Gray
* Joanne Horwood
* Dora Jakab
* Aimee Keir
* Grace Lowe
* David Middleton
* Callum Parke
* Ali Rahjoo
* Chloe-Ann Small
* Ruby Sykes
* Laura Van Lier
* Jade Wardle
* Lauren Whiteman

Women's Championship assistant referees

* Folu Aladelusi
* Zeyad Ahmed
* Katie Allen
* Emmanuel Arakopgun
* Alex Beeley
* Luke Bowles
* Josh Brayshaw
* Adriana Bucur
* Michael Butcher
* Josh Dear
* Gareth Dunn
* Ralph Frostick
* Richard Fullicks
* Hannah Gardner
* Dasa Griffin
* Elora Hardstaff
* Rosie Johns
* Elle-Louise Kaplicz
* Joseph Karram
* Julia Kings
* Maya Korpal
* Lee Markwick
* Darren McCall
* David Mitchell
* Amy Purser
* Charlotte Sparling Haythornthwaite
* Rhiannon Stevens
* Daniel Sykes
* Emma Taylor
* Soada Tushaj
* Steven Walsh
* Lauren Whiteman
* Peter Wilson
* Yashar Yekta

FIFA international match officials

Among the various Select Group officiating panels, there are 16 referees, 19 assistant referees, and 10 video match officials on the 2025 FIFA International List, although some hold dual roles.

All officials, except for Cheryl Foster and Ceri Williams, are listed as English representatives—Foster and Williams are listed as Welsh representatives.

Referees

* Stuart Attwell
* Sam Barrott
* Melissa Burgin
* John Brooks
* Abigail Byrne
* Kirsty Dowle
* Darren England
* Cheryl Foster
* Jarred Gillett
* Emily Heaslip
* Rob Jones
* Chris Kavanagh
* Andy Madley
* Michael Oliver
* Stacey Pearson
* Anthony Taylor

Assistant referees

* Georgia Ball
* Simon Bennett
* Gary Beswick
* Lee Betts
* Nicoleta Bria
* Stuart Burt
* Emily Carney
* Isabel Chaplin
* Dan Cook
* Neil Davies
* Sophie Dennington
* Ian Hussin
* Grace Lowe
* James Mainwaring
* Lucy McCann
* Adam Nunn
* Dan Robathan
* Anastasiya Voloshchuk
* Ceri Williams

Video match officials

* Natalie Aspinall
* Stuart Attwell
* Peter Bankes
* Lee Betts
* Darren England
* Jarred Gillett
* Chris Kavanagh
* Andy Madley
* Sian Massey-Ellis
* Michael Salisbury

Notable international appointments

Some former and current Select Group officials have overseen major international final matches, including: 2 World Cup finals, an Olympic final, 2 European Championship finals, and 5 Champions League finals.

Assistant referee Phil Sharp was a part of the team for the 2002 FIFA World Cup final.

Assistant referee Sian Massey-Ellis was a part of the officiating teams for the UEFA Women's Euro 2013 final and the 2018 UEFA Women's Champions League final.

Howard Webb adjudicated the 2010 UEFA Champions League final and subsequently the 2010 FIFA World Cup final. Webb was supported on both occasions by assistant referees Darren Cann and Mike Mullarkey.

Mark Clattenburg supervised the 2012 Olympic final, the 2016 UEFA Champions League final, and subsequently the UEFA Euro 2016 final. The assistant referees that supported Clattenburg during these finals, were: Simon Beck, Steve Child, and Jake Collin.

Anthony Taylor officiated the 2021 UEFA Nations League final, the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup final, and the 2023 UEFA Europa League final. For each final, Taylor was supported by assistant referees Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn.

Michael Oliver refereed the 2022 UEFA Super Cup between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt. He was assisted by Stuart Burt and Simon Bennett.

Cheryl Foster oversaw the 2023 UEFA Women's Champions League final between Barcelona and Wolfsburg.

Rebecca Welch officiated the 2024 UEFA Women's Champions League final between Barcelona and Lyon. She was assisted by Natalie Aspinall and Emily Carney.

Former Select Group officials

Select Group 1

Referees

* Martin Atkinson
* Graham Barber
* Neale Barry
* Steve Bennett
* Mark Clattenburg
* David Coote
* Mike Dean
* Phil Dowd
* Steve Dunn
* Paul Durkin
* Andy D'Urso
* Roger East
* David Elleray
* Chris Foy
* Kevin Friend
* Dermot Gallagher
* Mark Halsey
* Mike Jones
* Peter Jones
* Barry Knight
* Andre Marriner
* Lee Mason
* Matt Messias
* Jon Moss
* Graham Poll
* Lee Probert
* Uriah Rennie
* Mike Riley
* Graham Scott
* Keith Stroud
* Rob Styles
* Neil Swarbrick
* Steve Tanner
* Peter Walton
* Howard Webb
* Alan Wiley
* Jeff Winter
* Eddie Wolstenholme

Assistant referees

* Stephen Artis
* Nigel Bannister
* Guy Beale
* Simon Beck
* Charles Breakspear
* Dave Bryan
* Mike Bull
* Andrew Butler
* Mike Cairns
* Darren Cann
* Stephen Child
* Jake Collin
* Derek Eaton
* John Flynn
* Ron Ganfield
* Andy Garratt
* Ian Gosling
* Andy Halliday
* Patrick Keane
* Nick Kinseley
* Peter Kirkup
* Harry Lennard
* Rob Lewis
* Trevor Massey
* Mo Matadar
* Mick McDonough
* Dean Mohareb
* Mike Mullarkey
* Michael Murphy
* Andy Newbold
* Bob Pollock
* Shaun Procter-Green
* Ceri Richards
* David Richardson
* Philip Sharp
* Billy Smallwood
* John Stokes
* Gary Stott
* Paul Thompson
* Glenn Turner
* Adam Watts
* Andy Williams
* Martin Yerby

Select Group 2

These officials made it to Select Group 2, but not Select Group 1.

Referees

* James Adcock
* Andy Davies
* Scott Duncan
* Geoff Eltringham
* Andy Woolmer
* Rebecca Welch

Assistant referees

* Christopher Akers
* David Avent
* Andrew Aylott
* Darren Blunden
* Philip Dermott
* Matthew Foley
* Mike George
* Mark Jones
* Adam Matthews
* Tony Peart
* Mark Pottage
* Geoff Russell
* Dean Treleaven

See also

* Professional Referee Organization

References

Promotion and retirement links

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{{Football League Championship

Football refereeing in England
Football organisations in England


FA Cup
Sports organizations established in 2001