Abstract
Despite their importance, referees are an often overlooked part of professional football. Referees are an integral part of the global game and are required for fixtures to take place and competitions to occur. The English Premier League (EPL) provides a unique backdrop to consider the development of referees within the league, from the formation up until the present day. Referees have dealt with numerous changes, developments and technological advancements and continue to operate and perform at the highest level, required to officiate in the EPL. However, the continued growth of the EPL has also led to associated challenges for referees and a constant presence in the media with their decisions scrutinised in detail. This article considers the evolution of refereeing in the EPL, examines some of the most significant changes that have impacted upon refereeing and identifies some of the current challenges and opportunities that might exist for refereeing in the EPL.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 400-410 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Soccer & Society |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue number | 4-5 |
| Early online date | 3 Apr 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2022 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.