Martin Atkinson facts for kids
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Atkinson in 2014
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| Full name | Martin Atkinson | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 31 March 1971 Drighlington, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
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| Other occupation | Teacher | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1998–2000 |  Football League |
Assistant referee | |
| 2000–2003 | Premier League |
Assistant referee | |
| 2002–2003 | Football Conference |
Referee | |
| 2003–2005 | Football League |
Referee | |
| 2005–2022 | Premier League |
Referee | |
| 2022–present | Premier League |
Referee coach | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2006–2018 | FIFA listed | Referee | |
Martin Atkinson (born 31 March 1971) is an English football referee coach. He used to be a professional referee in the Premier League, which is England's top football league. He is part of the West Riding County Football Association.
Atkinson first started as an official in the Football League in 1995. He became a top referee in 2004. He has refereed many important matches. These include the FA Community Shield, the FA Trophy final, the Football League Cup final, the FA Cup final, and the UEFA Europa League final. Atkinson stopped being a referee on the field at the end of the 2021–22 season. Now, he coaches other top referees for the Premier League.
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Martin Atkinson's Referee Career
Atkinson began his refereeing journey when he was only 16 years old. This happened because his local team needed someone to oversee their games. By 1998, he had moved up to become an assistant referee in the Football League.
In 2000, he became part of the Select Group of assistant referees. By December 2002, he was refereeing matches in the Football Conference. He also refereed the 2003 FA County Youth Cup final.
At the start of the 2003–04 season, Atkinson joined the national list of referees. He was known for not sending off any player between August 2004 and October 2005.
Atkinson refereed his first Premier League game on 18 September 2004. It was a match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City.
Between 2003 and 2006, Atkinson showed only eight red cards in 102 matches. This means he sent off less than one player in every 12 games.
In 2006, Atkinson was added to the list of FIFA referees. This meant he could referee international matches.
The 2009–10 season was his busiest, as he refereed 48 matches in English football. This was the most games he had ever overseen in one season.
In September 2010, Atkinson was temporarily moved to the role of fourth official for a week. This happened after a disagreement about time-keeping with Everton manager David Moyes. Everton had scored two goals in injury time to make the score 3–3 against Manchester United. However, Atkinson blew his final whistle while Everton was still trying to score a winning goal.
On 22 May 2022, Atkinson refereed his last Premier League match. It was between Crystal Palace and Manchester United at Selhurst Park. This was the same stadium where he had made his Premier League debut 17 years earlier. When he retired, he had refereed 462 Premier League games. This is the second-highest number in the league's history, after Mike Dean's 560 games.
Important Finals Martin Atkinson Refereed
2006 FA Community Shield
Atkinson refereed the 2006 FA Community Shield match. This game was played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Liverpool won against Chelsea with a score of 2–1. Atkinson showed four yellow cards during the game.
2008 FA Trophy Final
Atkinson was chosen to referee the 2008 FA Trophy Final. This match took place at Wembley Stadium. Ebbsfleet United played against Torquay United. Ebbsfleet United won the game 1–0.
2011 FA Cup Final
Atkinson was also the referee for the 2011 FA Cup final. In this match, Manchester City beat Stoke City 1–0. Atkinson gave two yellow cards to two Stoke City players during the game.
2014 Football League Cup Final
Atkinson refereed the 2014 Football League Cup final. This game was between Manchester City and Sunderland. Manchester City won the match 3–1. Atkinson showed two yellow cards late in the second half.
Europe and International Matches
On 13 October 2007, Atkinson refereed a qualifying match for Euro 2008. It was between Moldova and Turkey in Chişinău, Moldova. The game ended in a 1–1 draw, and Atkinson showed two yellow cards.
The 2008–09 season was the first time Atkinson refereed UEFA Champions League games. That season, he oversaw four matches. These included games like FC Zürich against Real Madrid. In 2010, Atkinson was the fourth official for the Champions League final in Madrid. He gave his first Champions League red card on 5 April 2011. This was to Cristian Chivu of Inter Milan.
Atkinson refereed several matches during the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification. This included a game between Germany and Finland in Hamburg. He also officiated Portugal's 1–0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He was an additional assistant referee at Euro 2012. He worked as part of a team with referee Howard Webb.
On 14 October 2014, Atkinson stopped a Euro 2016 qualifying match in Belgrade. This game was between Serbia and Albania. Violence broke out on the field and in the crowd after a drone flew over the pitch with a flag.
On 27 May 2015, Atkinson was in charge of the 2015 UEFA Europa League Final. This final was between Sevilla and Dnipro. Sevilla won 3-2 and kept their title.
Atkinson refereed three games at Euro 2016. These included Germany versus Ukraine and Hungary versus Portugal in the group stage. He also refereed a round of 16 game between Wales and Northern Ireland.
No English officials were chosen for the 2018 World Cup. This was the first time since 1938. Atkinson refereed his last international match in March 2018. It was a friendly game between Argentina and Italy in Manchester.
Personal Life
Martin Atkinson was born in Drighlington, West Riding of Yorkshire. He now lives near Leeds.
Referee Statistics
This table shows Martin Atkinson's referee statistics for all competitions. Records are available from the 2002–03 season onwards.
| Season | Games | Total  |
per game |
Total  |
per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 9 | 28 | 3.11 | 3 | 0.33 |
| 2003–04 | 26 | 61 | 2.34 | 3 | 0.11 |
| 2004–05 | 38 | 87 | 2.28 | 3 | 0.07 |
| 2005–06 | 38 | 78 | 2.05 | 2 | 0.05 |
| 2006–07 | 42 | 128 | 3.04 | 6 | 0.14 |
| 2007–08 | 42 | 109 | 2.60 | 6 | 0.14 |
| 2008–09 | 40 | 135 | 3.38 | 11 | 0.28 |
| 2009–10 | 48 | 187 | 3.90 | 6 | 0.13 |
| 2010–11 | 41 | 143 | 3.49 | 13 | 0.32 |
| 2011–12 | 40 | 146 | 3.65 | 11 | 0.28 |
| 2012–13 | 36 | 133 | 3.69 | 1 | 0.03 |
| 2013–14 | 39 | 118 | 3.03 | 3 | 0.08 |
| 2014–15 | 48 | 193 | 4.02 | 11 | 0.23 |
| 2015–16 | 46 | 169 | 3.67 | 1 | 0.02 |
| 2016–17 | 43 | 146 | 3.40 | 3 | 0.07 |
| 2017–18 | 33 | 118 | 3.58 | 5 | 0.15 |
| 2018–19 | 34 | 110 | 3.24 | 2 | 0.06 |
| 2019–20 | 36 | 110 | 3.06 | 5 | 0.14 |
| 2020–21 | 30 | 71 | 2.37 | 2 | 0.07 |
| 2021–22 | 28 | 75 | 2.68 | 3 | 0.11 |
| Total | 737 | 2345 | 3.18 | 100 | 0.14 |
