Craig Pawson will referee this year’s FA Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea
Craig Pawson will be this year’s FA Cup final referee as Liverpool and Chelsea get set for a second Wembley showdown this season in next month’s showpiece, while Kirsty Dowle will take charge of the Blues and Man City Women’s clash
- Chelsea and Liverpool will face each other in the FA Cup final on May 14
- The FA confirmed Craig Pawson will take charge of the clash at Wembley
- Chelsea and Manchester City Women face each other the following day
- Kirst Dowle will officiate the Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley on May 15
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Craig Pawson will referee the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool at Wembley on May 14.
The Football Association confirmed the 43-year-old will be taking charge of the Wembley clash on Thursday.
The FA also announced that Pawson will be assisted by Dan Cook and Edward Smart, while the fourth official will be David Coote, while Paul Tierney and assistant VAR will be Simon Bennett.
Pawson will lead the two sides out as Liverpool and Chelsea clash in a Wembley final for the second time this season.
Craig Pawson will referee the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool on May 14
The fixture is the second time Liverpool and Chelsea will clash in a Wembley final this season
The Sheffield native is one of ten Fifa-ranked referees in the select group one list in the Premier League, which makes him the most senior official to have never refereed an FA Cup final.
However, he does have experience in the fixture as he was appointed as the fourth official for the 2015 FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Aston Villa, having previously performed the same role in the 2014 semi-final between Arsenal and Wigan Athletic.
He began his refereeing career in 1993 and was first appointed to the EFL as a referee in 2008, before joining the Premier League list in 2013.
Pawson was first appointed to the EFL as a referee in 2008 before joining the Premier League list in 2013
With the exception of the likes of Howard Webb and Mark Clattenburg, the FA Cup final is considered to be the highlight of an English referee’s career and Pawson described it as a ‘lifetime ambition’.
‘I got the call yesterday morning, so I was elated as you can imagine,’ he told the FA.
‘It’s been a lifetime’s ambition to referee the FA Cup Final and it’s the pinnacle of anyone’s career so I’m elated to receive the honour.
‘It’s going to be a great Final between two great teams and the fact that it’s the 150th anniversary of the first FA Cup Final as well is the cherry on the top.
‘I’m just really looking forward to it now.’
The Video Assistant Referee for the final showdown will be Paul Tierney (left)
Only two officials have ever refereed the final twice. With Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor’s second coming during the two years the country was in lockdown as it was deemed unfair for a referee’s only final to be played in front of an empty crowd in 2020 or limited capacity last year.
Chelsea are also in action in the Women’s FA Cup final as they face Manchester City the following day and the FA confirmed that Kirsty Dowle will take charge of the clash.
The Kent referee will be assisted by Emily Carney and Magda Golba with Lisa Benn taking the role of fourth official.
Chelsea are also in action in the Women’s FA Cup final as they face Manchester City
Dowle is a regular referee in the Barclays FA WSL, as well as being Level 2B in the men’s game and also a FIFA women’s referee, having started her refereeing career eight years ago.
Similarly to Pawson, she has experience in the fixture having been an assistant referee at the Women’s FA Cup Final in 2018.
‘It came as a shock, I got a phone call yesterday which I missed because I was at work,’ revealed Dowle.
The FA confirmed that Kirsty Dowle will take charge of the Women’s FA Cup semi-final
‘And when I heard the voicemail of ‘it’s the FA, can you give us a call back?’ I thought I was in some sort of trouble!
‘It wasn’t something I was really expecting but it’s always nice to get that kind of news.
‘This is what every referee wants and it’s what you work hard for, so it’s great to have this kind of game to look forward to.
‘I think it’s just the occasion and with the way in which women’s football is growing so rapidly, with the EUROs coming up this year and we’ve [England] just done well in the Arnold Clark Cup, we’ve now got two brilliant teams in the Cup Final and it should be an amazing day.’
The Reds emerged victorious when they met with Chelsea at Wembley in the Carabao Cup
Pawson and his assistants will attend the traditional black tie gala ‘Eve of final rally’ the night before the game which will be held at the Kennington Oval.
Pawson officiated Liverpool’s quarter-final clash with Nottingham Forest this season which saw Reds defender Joe Gomez receive the sole yellow card of the game.
He also refereed Jurgen Klopp’s side in the Premier League twice this term in their away games against Leeds and West Ham.
Pawson refereed Liverpool’s FA Cup quarter final against Nottingham Forest in March
Meanwhile, Pawson was in charge when Chelsea travelled to the Etihad in the league in January, which saw the only two bookings of the game go to the Blues.
The west Londoners suffered Carabao Cup heartache at the hands of Liverpool after their tense final in February was decided by a 22-penalty shootout, refereed by Stuart Attwell.
Their second Wembley crunch is crucial for both sides’ campaigns as Klopp’s side will look to add another trophy to their cabinet as they continue their historic quadruple-chasing quest, while the FA Cup is Thomas Tuchel’s last chance of silverware this season.
