Darren England (born 23 December 1985) is a Premier League football referee, who was promoted in August 2020.[1] In December 2021, the PGMOL announced that England had been added to the 2022 FIFA List of International Match Officials.[2][3]
| Full name | Darren England | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 23 December 1985 | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| ?–2015 | Football Conference | Referee | |
| 2015–2020 | The Football League | Referee | |
| 2020– | Premier League | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2022– | FIFA listed | Referee | |
Prior to this, England had been a Select Group 2 referee since 2017, and prior to this, he had been a Premier League assistant referee between 2012 and 2015.[2]
Career
editHe refereed the League Two Play-Off Final in 2017 between Blackpool v Exeter City and then was promoted to the Select Group 2 list.[4]
On 30 September 2023, England was on VAR duty for a Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, a game which resulted in a 2–1 victory for Spurs. Luis Diaz had a goal ruled out for offside by the linesman – the decision was not questioned by England or any of his colleagues in VAR despite an "unusually quick decision" with no lines being drawn.[5] After the match, PGMOL released a statement admitting that this was a "significant human error" and that "VAR failed to intervene".[6][7] England, along with assistant VAR Dan Cook, were subsequently dropped for their following Premier League fixtures.[8] Liverpool later released a statement acknowledging PGMOL's admission of failure, stating that it was "unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention", and that they will "explore a range of options [...] given the clear need for escalation and resolution."[9]
References
edit- ^ Ralston, William (21 March 2023). "The impossible job: inside the world of Premier League referees". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ a b "Referees England and Jones promoted to Select Group 1".
- ^ "PGMOL".
- ^ "Darren England – Select Group 2 Match Officials – EFL Official Website". www.efl.com. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ^ "'Unfair' and 'crazy decisions' anger Klopp in Spurs loss". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ "PGMOL admit 'significant human error' in Spurs win over Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ "PGMOL admits VAR offside error to disallow Diaz goal". ESPN. 30 September 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ^ Dean, Sam (1 October 2023). "Referees stood down for Liverpool goal error were working in UAE 48 hours before Tottenham match". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ^ "Liverpool FC statement – Liverpool FC". www.liverpoolfc.com. Retrieved 1 October 2023.