Select Group

The Professional Referee Group (Pro Ref), formally known as the Select Group is a panel of English professional football referees and assistant referees, appointed by Pro Ref. The group was first formed in 2001, when England became the first country to use fully professional referees in its top flight.

In June 2026 the PGMOL were rebranded to Professional Referee Group (Pro Ref), which merged Select Group 1, 2 & the Supplementary List

Referees

Professional Referee Group

National Group Referees

  • Aji Ajibola
  • Richard Aspinall
  • Ben Atkinson
  • Dale Baines
  • Aaron Bannister
  • Michael Barlow
  • Dan Blades
  • Harrison Blair
  • Declan Bourne
  • Charles Breakspear
  • Carl Brook
  • Declan Brown
  • Melissa Burgin
  • Abigail Byrne
  • Alex Chilowicz
  • Steven Copeland
  • Martin Coy
  • Alan Dale
  • William Davis
  • Leigh Doughty
  • Kirsty Dowle
  • Darren Drysdale
  • Edward Duckworth
  • James Durkin
  • Richard Eley
  • Aaron Farmer
  • Neil Hair
  • Emily Heaslip
  • Craig Hicks
  • Paul Howard
  • Andrew Humphries
  • Aaron Jackson
  • Scott Jackson
  • Paul Johnson
  • Callum Jones
  • Ross Joyce
  • Zac Kennard-Kettle
  • George Laflin
  • Oliver Mackey
  • Paul Marsden
  • Ross Martin
  • Robert Massey-Ellis
  • Simon Mather
  • Matthew Mcquillan
  • Adam Merchant
  • Jacob Miles
  • Andrew Miller
  • Stuart Morland
  • Sam Mulhall
  • Matthew Norton
  • Jamie O'Connor
  • James Oldham
  • Scott Oldham
  • Stephen Parkinson
  • Thomas Parsons
  • Garreth Rhodes
  • Jason Richardson
  • Jamie Robinson
  • David Rock
  • Matthew Russell
  • Lewis Sandoe
  • Tolu Sangowawa
  • Matthew Scholes
  • Isaac Searle
  • Jeremy Simpson
  • Sunny Singh Gill
  • Lewis B. Smith
  • Niall Smith
  • Benjamin Speedie
  • Sebastian Stockbridge
  • Lee Swabey
  • Elliott Swallow
  • Gareth Thomas
  • Ben Toner
  • Harry Wager
  • Callum Walchester
  • Richie Watkins
  • Dean Watson
  • Dean Whitestone
  • James Westgate
  • Martin Woods
  • Ollie Yates
  • Alan Young

Assistant referees

Premier League

  • Blake Antrobus
  • 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
  • Steve Meredith
  • Adam Nunn
  • Dan Robathan
  • Mark Scholes
  • Eddie Smart
  • Wade Smith
  • Craig Taylor
  • Richard West
  • Mat Wilkes
  • Tim Wood

Championship Assistant Referees

  • Johnathon Bickerdike
  • Conor Brown
  • George Byrne
  • Emily Carney
  • Alan Cresswell
  • Andrew Dallison
  • Andrew Fox
  • Hugh Gilroy
  • Callum Gough
  • Jacob Graham
  • David Harrison
  • Paul Hodskinson
  • Shaun Hudson
  • Robert Hyde
  • Alex James
  • Hristo Karaivanov
  • Daniel Leach
  • Jacob Lehane
  • Sam Lewis
  • Nigel Lugg
  • Alistair Nelson
  • Bhupinder Singh Gill
  • Matthew Smith
  • Mark Stevens
  • Darren Williams
  • Richard Woodward

National Group Assistant Referees

  • Ryan Aldred
  • Ashley Allen
  • Justin Amey
  • Marvyn Amphlett
  • Matt Archibald
  • Jon Ashworth-Sears
  • Andrew Aylott
  • Georgia Ball
  • Damith Bandara
  • Ciaran Barlow
  • Conall Bartlett
  • Mark Bates
  • Andy Bennett
  • Oliver Bickle
  • Jonathon Block
  • Nick Blogg
  • Daniel Bonneywell
  • Luke Bowles
  • Alex Bradley
  • Joshua Bramall
  • Nicoleta Bria
  • Jordan Brooks
  • Karl Buckley
  • Adam Burgess
  • Michael Burrows
  • Stuart Butler
  • Marcus Carmichael
  • Duncan Carratt
  • William Cavanagh
  • Scott Chalkley
  • Isabel Chaplin
  • Samuel Clayton
  • Simon Clayton
  • Jack Clench
  • Aaron Conn
  • Thomas Cooke
  • Ian Cooper
  • Leigh Crowhurst
  • Mark Cunliffe
  • Anthony Da Costa
  • Andrew Daniels
  • Christopher Darling
  • Sophie Dennington
  • Peter Dingle
  • Karl Donaghey
  • Steve Durnall
  • Daniel D'Urso
  • Drew Dutton
  • Tyler Dutton
  • Mark Dwyer
  • George Eaton
  • Andrew Ellis
  • Neil Evans
  • Robert Evans
  • Conor Farrell
  • Shaun Farrer
  • Niall Felton
  • Ciaran Fidler
  • Stephen Finch
  • Carl Fitch-Jackson
  • Daniel Flynn
  • Declan Ford
  • Jack Forder-Hay
  • Keiran Forrest
  • Matthew Friend
  • Dan Frizzell
  • Samuel Fudge
  • Graeme Fyvie
  • Alex Gray
  • Wayne Gray
  • Thomas Green
  • Wayne Grunnill
  • Danny Guest
  • Bradley Hall
  • Aaron Hallam
  • Leoni Harland
  • Thomas Harland
  • Thomas Harty
  • Ryan Head
  • Harley Hetherington
  • Andrew Hickman
  • Jake Hillier
  • Thomas Holden
  • David Holmes
  • James Hooper
  • Kevin Howick
  • Kenwyn Hughes
  • Alan Hull
  • Jonathan Hunt
  • James Hurst
  • Christopher Husband
  • David Hutton
  • Danny Jarvis
  • Matthew Jones
  • Matthew Joyce
  • Graham Kane
  • Stuart Kane
  • Mehul Karia
  • Joseph Karram
  • Paul Kelly
  • Abbas Khan
  • Grzegorz Kornasiewicz
  • Joseph Larkin
  • Conor Ledgeway
  • Peter Lowe
  • Matthew Malton
  • Alex Mathieson
  • Elliott Mayer
  • Lucy-Anne McCann
  • Matthew McGrath
  • Ryan McILravey
  • Harley McKittrick
  • David Middleton
  • Anthony Moore
  • Kevin Morris
  • Richard A. Morris
  • Richard J. Morris
  • Matthew Moss
  • Kevin Mulraine
  • Ross Murphy
  • William Murray
  • Zharir Mustafa
  • Christopher Myatt
  • Paul Newhouse
  • Adam Nichol
  • Jack Nield
  • Oliver Nolan
  • Colman O'Meara
  • Declan O'Regan
  • Declan O'Shea
  • Martin Parker
  • Matthew Parry
  • Joseph Pettitt
  • Steven Plane
  • Lewis Raper
  • Greg Read
  • Adam Ricketts
  • Jamie Roberts
  • Jason Roberts
  • Daniel Robinson
  • Michael Robinson
  • Simon Robinson
  • Alex Rolfe
  • Sean Rothwell
  • Steven Rushton
  • Mark Ryder
  • Ryan Saward
  • Karl Sear
  • Mark Senior
  • Francis Sibley
  • Joe Simpson
  • Daniel Smith
  • Rob Smith
  • Matthew Sowerby
  • Thomas Staten
  • Paul Stonier
  • Graham Swanton
  • Daniel Sykes
  • Grant Taylor
  • Scott Taylor
  • James Tewson
  • Jordan Tindall
  • Jake Topp
  • Adrian Tranter
  • Dean Treleaven
  • William Vaughan
  • Lee Venamore
  • Anastasiya Voloshchuk
  • Stephen Wade
  • Bailey Walker
  • Timothy Walker
  • Jamie Waters
  • Michael Webb
  • Sam Wesson
  • Ryan Whitaker
  • Darren Wilding
  • Arran Williams
  • Ceri Williams
  • Ollie Williams
  • Scott Williams
  • Adam Wilson
  • James Wilson
  • Marc Wilson
  • Curtis Wood
  • Daniel Woodward
  • Joe Wright

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

Women's Super League assistant referees

  • 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
  • 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

Assistant referees

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

Video match officials

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

Assistant referees

  • Stephen Artis
  • Natalie Aspinall
  • 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
  • Marc Perry
  • 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

Assistant referees

  • Christopher Akers
  • David Avent
  • Andrew Aylott
  • Nik Barnard
  • Darren Blunden
  • Ian Cooper
  • Adam Crysell
  • Philip Dermott
  • Mark Dwyer
  • Carl Fitch-Jackson
  • Matthew Foley
  • Mike George
  • Jonathan Hunt
  • Mark Jones
  • Matthew Jones
  • Graham Kane
  • Geoffrey Liddle
  • Adam Matthews
  • Matthew McGrath
  • Tony Peart
  • Mark Pottage
  • Greg Read
  • Geoff Russell
  • Mark Russell
  • Rob Smith
  • Dean Treleaven
  • Lee Venamore
  • Richard Wild
  • James Wilson

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ralston, William (21 March 2023). "The impossible job: inside the world of Premier League referees". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  2. ↑ "New chapter for professional referees' body". www.thefa.com.
  3. ↑ "The Select Group Women's Professional Game for the 2023/24 #BarclaysWSL & #BarclaysWC season". www.instagram.com.
  4. ↑ "We are delighted to confirm the list of match officials who will be operating at higher levels across the men's and women's professional game for the 2024/25 season". www.instagram.com.
  5. ↑ "FIFA International List of Match Officials". inside.fifa.com.
  6. ↑ "Line-ups: Germany - Brazil, 30.06.2002". worldfootball.net.
  7. ↑ "Dorcioman appointed to referee final".
  8. ↑ "Adámková to referee Women's Champions League final".
  9. ↑ "Webb gets Madrid assignment". 20 May 2010.
  10. ↑ "Howard Webb given honour of refereeing World Cup final". The Guardian. 8 July 2010.
  11. ↑ "Clattenburg to ref final | Football News | Sky Sports".
  12. ↑ "Clattenburg to referee Champions League final". 10 May 2016.
  13. ↑ "Clattenburg named referee for UEFA EURO 2016 final". 8 July 2016.
  14. ↑ Association, The Football. "English ref Anthony Taylor to official UEFA Nations League Final between Spain and France". www.thefa.com.
  15. ↑ Association, The Football. "English officials get Club World Cup call". www.englandfootball.com.
  16. ↑ "Referee teams appointed for 2023 UEFA club competition finals". 22 May 2023.
  17. ↑ "Michael Oliver to referee 2022 UEFA Super Cup with Semi-Automated Offside Technology to be introduced". 3 August 2022.
  18. ↑ "Referee teams appointed for 2023 UEFA club competition finals". UEFA.com. 22 May 2023.
  19. ↑ "Referee teams for 2024 UEFA club competition finals announced". 13 May 2024.