Alan Wiley
 | |||
| Born |
27 May 1960 Burntwood, Staffordshire, England | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| ? -1991 | West Midlands | Referee | |
| 1991–1994 | Football League | Asst. ref. | |
| 1994–1995 | Premier League | Asst. ref. | |
| 1995–1999 | Football League | Referee | |
| 1999–2010 | Premier League | Referee | |
Alan G. Wiley (born 27 May 1960[1]) is a former English football referee in the FA Premier League, who is based in Burntwood, Staffordshire.
Career
Wiley first took up the whistle in 1981, then officiated in the West Midlands (Regional) League until 1991, when he became an assistant referee on the Football League List. In 1994, he was promoted to the FA Premier League List of assistant referees, and a year later progressed to the Football League referees' List.[2]
In 1998 he refereed the FA Women's Cup Final, when Arsenal beat Croydon 3–2.[3] Wiley made the step up to full Premier League referee in 1999, taking charge of his first match on 11 August 1999 at The Dell between Southampton and Leeds United, which the away side won 3–0.[4]
In 2000, he was fourth official for the FA Cup Final at Wembley, when Chelsea defeated Aston Villa 1-0, courtesy of a Roberto Di Matteo goal after 73 minutes.[5] Wiley got the appointment despite growing up as a season ticket holder at Villa's rivals, Birmingham City.[6]
He was subsequently given the honour of refereeing two Football League Cup semi-finals (2003 and 2006), but his first prestige men's game as man-in-the-middle was the Community Shield match at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, between Arsenal and Liverpool on 11 August 2002. The London side ran out 1–0 winners, thanks to a Gilberto Silva goal in the second half.[1]
Wiley was the referee for the 2005–06 League Cup final between Manchester United and Wigan Athletic, also at the Millennium Stadium – United winning 4–0.[7]
He then took charge of the FA Cup Final on 13 May 2006 when Liverpool played West Ham United, at the same venue. Mike Dean was originally appointed to referee the game but the Football Association took the unusual step of replacing him after concerns were raised about his ability to be impartial towards Liverpool, who are based near Dean's home town on Merseyside.[8] In the game, Liverpool triumphed on penalties by 3–1, the score at the end of extra time being 3 goals each.[9]
Wiley was on the receiving end of an Alex Ferguson tirade following Manchester United's loss to Chelsea on 26 April 2008, when Chelsea were awarded a penalty for handball. Manchester United's bench claimed the ball had hit midfielder Michael Carrick on the shoulder, however the penalty was awarded by assistant referee Glenn Turner, and was scored to give Chelsea a 2–1 lead.[10]
On 24 May 2008, Wiley took charge of the Championship Playoff Final between Hull City and Bristol City at Wembley Stadium, a match which Hull City won.
Wiley officiated the match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford on 14 March 2009, in which he awarded two penalty kicks (one to Manchester United and one to Liverpool,) as well as a red card to United's Nemanja Vidić. Commentator Andy Gray said on Sky Sports's TV commentary, following Vidić's dismissal that, "Alan Wiley, in my opinion, has got all the big decisions (today) right." Liverpool's Fabio Aurelio would score the resulting free-kick, putting his team up 3–1 in a match they won by a final scoreline of 4–1.
On 15 August 2009, he had the honour of refereeing the first game of the new Premier League season between Chelsea F.C. and Hull City A.F.C., Chelsea ran out 2–1 winners.
On 3 October 2009 Sir Alex Ferguson launched a scathing attack on Wiley in a post-match interview following Manchester United's 2–2 draw against Sunderland, complaining that Wiley was 'not fit enough for a game of that standard' and accused Wiley of 'walking up the pitch for the second goal needing a rest'.[11] Ferguson received a four game touchline ban (two of which were suspended) and a £20,000 fine for his comments.[12]
Ferguson has since apologised to Wiley but stated that the overall fitness of referees in the Premier League needs to be addressed.[13]
On 20 January 2010, Wiley did not penalise Arsenal's William Gallas for his tackle on Bolton's Mark Davies in a sequence that led to an Arsenal goal. Bolton manager Owen Coyle said that Gallas should have been sent off.[14]
Wiley was accused of a further blunder-prone performance the following month when he disallowed a late Ryan Shawcross goal for Stoke City against Manchester City and did not punish a blatant kick from Patrick Vieira on Glenn Whelan.[15]
In April 2010, he was reported to have performed inconsistently in his handling of an FA Cup semi-final match between Portsmouth and Tottenham.[16]
Also in April 2010, he was criticised after mysteriously awarding a penalty to Leeds United after striker Jermaine Beckford tripped over his own shoelace outside the area in a match against Gillingham
In July 2010, Wiley agreed to retire from refereeing and became a full-time referee coach, sharing his expertise in developing the next generation of referees.[17]
He currently holds an FA Preliminary Coaching Badge.[18]
Career statistics
| Season | Games | Total  |
per game |
Total  |
per game
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997/1998 | 41 | 126 | 3.07 | 4 | 0.10 |
| 1998/1999 | 40 | 158 | 3.95 | 7 | 0.18 |
| 1999/2000 | 34 | 101 | 2.97 | 3 | 0.09 |
| 2000/2001 | 40 | 124 | 3.10 | 2 | 0.05 |
| 2001/2002 | 34 | 90 | 2.65 | 3 | 0.09 |
| 2002/2003 | 35 | 99 | 2.83 | 5 | 0.14 |
| 2003/2004 | 28 | 93 | 3.32 | 3 | 0.11 |
| 2004/2005 | 32 | 78 | 2.44 | 5 | 0.16 |
| 2005/2006 | 44 | 142 | 3.23 | 7 | 0.16 |
| 2006/2007 | 42 | 135 | 3.21 | 4 | 0.09 |
| 2007/2008 | 40 | 125 | 3.12 | 3 | 0.07 |
| 2008/2009 | 6 | 17 | 2.83 | 1 | 0.16 |
(There are no available records prior to 1997/1998)
References
- ^ a b Birthdate confirmation and profile: Football League Official website.
- ^ Alan Wiley's life and times in football. 26 July 2010. Express & Star. Retrieved 17 August 2013
- ^ 1998 Women's Cup Final: FA.com website.
- ^ First Premiership match, Southampton v. Leeds, 1999: soccerbase.com website.
- ^ Fourth official for the 2000 FA Cup Final: Premier League website.
- ^ http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/Football-Premier-League-referee-receives-booking-league-presentation/article-1051515-detail/article.html
- ^ 2005–06 Carling Cup Final: soccerbase.com website.
- ^ "FA replace Cup final referee from the Wirral": Telegraph.co.uk website.
- ^ 2006 FA Cup Final: soccerbase.com website.
- ^ "Fergie fury at Blues penalty". The Sun. London. 26 April 2008.
- ^ Asthana, Anushka (3 October 2009). "Sir Alex Ferguson accuses Alan Wiley of being unfit". The Times. London.
- ^ "Alex Ferguson charged after questioning Alan Wiley's fitness". The Guardian. London. 19 October 2009.
- ^ White, Duncan (10 October 2009). "Sir Alex Ferguson apologise for Alan Wiley fitness comments". The Daily Telegraph. London.
- ^ "Coyle angered by Gallas challenge". BBC News. 21 January 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/Stoke-City-Pulis-wants-fair-play-honest-Potters/article-1848225-detail/article.html
- ^ Daily Mail. London. 12 April 2010 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1265263/FA-Cup-semi-final-Match-Zone-Referee-Alan-Wiley-spotlight.html.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Top-referees-Alan-Wiley-and-Steve-Bennett-to-quit-Premier-League-for-coaching-roles-article533179.html
- ^ FA Preliminary Coaching Badge confirmation: RefereesAssistant.com website.
External links
- Alan Wiley Profile at Refworld.com
- Alan Wiley Referee Statistics at soccerbase.com