Bobby Madley

Robert Madley (born 6 October 1985) is an English professional football referee who was on the list of Select Group Referees who officiate primarily in the Premier League between 2013 and 2018. He officiated in the Football League as a referee from 2010 and was one of the youngest officials to progress to the top-flight of English football.

Bobby Madley
Full name Robert Madley
Born (1985-10-06) 6 October 1985
Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England
Domestic
Years League Role
2010–2018 The Football League Referee
2013–2018 Premier League Referee
2020– The Football League Referee
International
Years League Role
2016–2018 FIFA listed Referee

Madley was previously one of the referee development officers for the West Riding County Football Association[1] before taking up a full-time role with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL). His older brother, Andrew Madley, is a Premier League and FIFA-listed referee.

Career

In his early career, from 2001, Madley refereed in the Wakefield and District League and then the West Yorkshire Association Football League. In 2010, he joined the National List of referees who officiate in the Football League. In 2012, he was added to the FIFA fifth officials' list.

In April 2013, Madley took charge of his first Premier League fixture, between Southampton and West Bromwich Albion at St Mary's Stadium.[2] He sent off three players during the game, one from each team for violent conduct, and later a second Southampton player for serious foul play.[3] West Brom manager Steve Clarke, whose team won 3–0, said after the game that he thought all three red cards were correct.[4]

In June 2013, Madley was promoted to the panel of Select Group Referees who officiate all fixtures in the Premier League. In April 2015, he was selected to officiate both legs of the FA Youth Cup final between Manchester City and Chelsea. He was promoted to the FIFA referee list in January 2016. On Sunday 6 August 2017, he refereed the FA Community Shield 2017 match between Arsenal and Chelsea.

In the 2017–18 season, Madley was criticised for several decisions by former Premier League referees including Keith Hackett, Graham Poll and Mark Halsey.[5][6] He quit suddenly in August 2018, when he "decided to relocate due to a change in his personal circumstances", according to a statement by PGMOL.[7][8] He later revealed, in December 2019, that he recorded a video 'mocking' a disabled person and sent it to a friend who subsequently forwarded it to his employers, for which he was dismissed and left the ranks of PGMOL referees.[9][10] He subsequently moved to Norway where he officiated in lower league matches.[11]

In 2019, Madley signed on to referee in the 6-a-side World Cup,[12] explaining how much he enjoyed the 6-a-side football game. He also refereed the 6-a-side World Cup final in Crete in 2019,[13] as Russia beat Poland. He also mentored other referees during the tournament. On 13 February 2020, following discussions with PGMOL, it was announced that Madley would return to refereeing in English football, initially at grassroots level, before joining the National List of referees, enabling him to officiate League One and League Two matches, for the 2020–21 season.[11] He refereed the 2021 League Two play-off final between Newport County and Morecambe, where he awarded Morecambe a controversial extra time penalty after turning down a Newport first half penalty appeal.

He has been refereering lower divisions in Norway when absent from Premier League in England.

On October 25 2022, Bobby was promoted back to the Premier League after four years. He took charge of Brentford v Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday 29 October 2022. Madley sent off Diego Costa in the 90+7 minute after a VAR check.

References
  1. West Riding CFA: Retrieved 16 May 2015
  2. Premierleague.com: Match officials appointments 27–29 April Archived 25 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 23 April 2013
  3. "Southampton 0–3 West Brom: Three up front paid off – Steve Clarke". BBC Sport. 27 April 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  4. Nick Szczepanik (27 April 2013). "Southampton 0 West Bromwich Albion 3 match report: Three off as Fortuné completes the set of goal, assist and red card". The Independent. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  5. "Ref Watch: Should West Brom have been awarded a penalty against Arsenal?". Sky Sports. 26 September 2017.
  6. Hackett, Keith (26 December 2017). "Referee Bobby Madley was absolutely wrong on the two big decisions in Bournemouth's draw with West Ham". The Telegraph.
  7. Wallace, Sam (16 August 2018). "Exclusive: Premier League referee Bobby Madley quits 'due to change in personal circumstances'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  8. "Bobby Madley: Premier League referee quits". BBC Sport. 16 August 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  9. PA Media (31 December 2019). "Referee Bobby Madley reveals 'dark joke' that led to Premier League sack". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  10. "Bobby Madley: Former Premier League referee reveals he was sacked after filming video appearing to mock disabled person". BBC Sport. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  11. "Bobby Madley: Former Premier League official to return to refereeing". BBC Sport. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  12. "Bobby Signs On!". 19 August 2019.
  13. "Crete 2019 World Cup Knockout Stages". Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
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