Fa Cup Final
- Thread starter James P
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Anubis
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Bar obv the Taylor exception due to covid plus any other random occasion its happened, I still find it outrageous the FA Cup final is awarded as gesture and not on performance.
Its the final of a huge cup, it should imo, be on merit.
If that means the same ref gets it 4 times, so be it. Due reward for being a top performer.
Instead, its a case of, its your turn. (Pawson btw worthy of the appointment, but, in general)
even the ref himself, does he really feel proud 30 years later showing his medal, knowing it was by rota and not merit.
League Cup final, 4th man in FA cup final, fine, but the big final should be your top guy. Dean worthy of 4th for example this time to mark his lengthy service pre retiral.
edit i have just recalled Oliver has done two fa cup finals, so maybe the tide has turned
Its the final of a huge cup, it should imo, be on merit.
If that means the same ref gets it 4 times, so be it. Due reward for being a top performer.
Instead, its a case of, its your turn. (Pawson btw worthy of the appointment, but, in general)
even the ref himself, does he really feel proud 30 years later showing his medal, knowing it was by rota and not merit.
League Cup final, 4th man in FA cup final, fine, but the big final should be your top guy. Dean worthy of 4th for example this time to mark his lengthy service pre retiral.
edit i have just recalled Oliver has done two fa cup finals, so maybe the tide has turned
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Michael Oliver has done two, and you could be right about the tide turning, but I'm pretty sure that his second final (in 2021) and Anthony Taylor's second final (in 2020) were both exceptions due to the COVID pandemic (and the consequent restriction on crowds), rather than a deliberate change in approach.
I would assume that, with a crowd allowed in the stadium this season, the plan is to revert to the tradition of appointing individuals to referee a maximum of one FA Cup final*.
See below quote from Wikipedia article accessed today: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FA_Cup_Final_referees
"By modern tradition, individuals are appointed to referee an FA Cup Final only once, a rule that has been in practice since 1902. They may have previously appeared as an assistant referee or fourth official.
However, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the tradition was broken when Anthony Taylor became the first referee for over a century to officiate a second cup final. This was decided to allow a referee who would be officiating in a maiden final to experience the occasion as intended, with friends and family present and a stadium full of fans. In 2021, with the same crowd restrictions in place, Michael Oliver also refereed a second final."
*Having said that, the announcement on the FA website for last year's appointment didn't actually make any comment about COVID:
https://www.thefa.com/news/2021/apr/20/michael-oliver-to-referee-emirates-fa-cup-final-20210420
...whereas the one for 2020 did:
https://www.thefa.com/news/2020/jul/22/heads-up-fa-cup-final-match-officials-confirmed-220720
I'm not sure I'd read much into that though.
Taylor and Oliver only had it twice because both finals were played under Covid lockdown rules. If you can only referee it once it would hardly be fair if your only occasion is in an empty stadium.
Personally I think it is time to break with tradition and have the best performing officials in charge of the FA cup final. At the moment we can have the situation where the 10th best performing referee gets the game, purely on the basis that others performing better than them have already done it, and that isn't fair on the teams. They have worked hard to get to the final and they should get the best officials, not those being awarded it purely on the basis they haven't had it before.
Personally I think it is time to break with tradition and have the best performing officials in charge of the FA cup final. At the moment we can have the situation where the 10th best performing referee gets the game, purely on the basis that others performing better than them have already done it, and that isn't fair on the teams. They have worked hard to get to the final and they should get the best officials, not those being awarded it purely on the basis they haven't had it before.
Anubis
RefChat Addict
Pawson is still a good choice. As long as its clear the ref is a top performer, as opposed to their turn, then all good.
Selected from the top 4/5 with a slight bias to a person that has yet to officiate the final before?
Job done. What else shall we fix in the FA this week. Needs to be quick though as it's already Friday and we have busy weekends ahead!
Pawson was a good choice, it was more a general comment rather than specific to this season. Where it isn't right is when you are forced to give it to someone who hasn't been trusted with any big games that season just because they are the most qualified person not to have already done it.
Things are better because of the pandemic and Taylor and Oliver getting it for a second time. Had that not happened it would have probably been Pawson in 2020, Kavanagh in 2021 and Attwell this year. Who would that leave for 2023 that regularly referees in the Premier League? Coote, Bankes, Scott, etc, and that isn't a slur on their ability, rather I don't think it is fair on the FA Cup Final teams to appoint a referee that isn't let anywhere near a top 6 game.
I get that it is tradition, but keeping with tradition isn't necessarily always the right thing to do