If you follow English football you know Michael Oliver.
He has refereed across the English football league for almost 20 years and is part of the referee delegation that has been sent to America to officiate the 2026 World Cup.
Here’s 10 things you should know about England’s most prestigious referee.
- His father, Clive Oliver, was also a referee and introduced him to the profession at 14
- He refereed the 2007 Conference National League play-off final, becoming the youngest referee to officiate a game at Wembley
- In 2009, he and his father refereed in consecutive games at Wembley, as Michael took charge of the League One play-off final, while Clive took charge of the League Two play-off final
- He has refereed the FA Cup final twice, the EFL Cup final once and the Community Shield once
- He is a Newcastle United fan, meaning he is not allowed to referee any of the clubs games
- Because of this, he also cannot referee any Sunderland games
- He made history in August 2010 when he became the youngest-ever Premier League referee, presiding over a match between Birmingham and Blackburn Rovers at just 25 years and 182 days old.
- In 2018, he awarded a last-minute penalty to Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final against Juventus. The tie was level at 3-3 on aggregate and he sent off goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon for dissent. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the subsequent penalty
- Oliver is refereeing at his second World Cup, after being one of six English officials present in Qatar in 2022
- In 2023 he refereed the Saudi Pro League clash between Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal
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