Veteran English referee Anthony Taylor has announced his immediate retirement, bringing the curtain down on a distinguished 20-year career in professional football.
The 47-year-old officiated 831 matches across domestic and international competitions, with his final assignment coming on 6 July when Spain defeated Portugal 1-0 in the FIFA World Cup round of 16.
Taylor began his professional refereeing journey after working as a prison officer and joined the Football League referees’ list ahead of the 2006-07 season. He earned promotion to the Premier League in 2010 and went on to oversee 432 top-flight matches, taking charge of every major domestic cup final during his career. Overall, he refereed 668 professional games in England and another 163 international fixtures.
In a statement announcing his decision, Taylor described officiating at the highest level as a privilege but admitted the demands of the role had become increasingly difficult.
“Officiating at the elite level has been an immense privilege, but the pressure is intense and the scrutiny is constant,” he said. “The time is now right to step aside and look forward to transitioning to the next chapter of my career.”
A FIFA-listed referee for 14 years, Taylor was selected for the 2022 World Cup as well as Euro 2020 and Euro 2024. Although he was considered for the 2022 World Cup final, he was ultimately ruled out because England’s presence among the finalists created a political conflict with Argentina.
Taylor’s domestic highlights included officiating the 2015 EFL Cup final, Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur, and both the 2017 and 2020 FA Cup finals, which Arsenal won 2-1 against Chelsea. He also handled the 2015 Community Shield and the 2018 Championship play-off final.
On the European stage, Taylor refereed several of UEFA’s biggest occasions, including the 2020 Super Cup between Bayern Munich and Sevilla, the 2021 Nations League final won by France against Spain, and the 2023 Europa League final, where Sevilla defeated Roma on penalties.
He also received widespread praise for his calm management of Denmark’s Euro 2020 match against Finland after Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch, helping oversee the suspension of the game during the medical emergency.
One of the most difficult moments of Taylor’s career came after the 2023 Europa League final, when Roma manager Jose Mourinho repeatedly labelled him a “disgrace” before confronting him in a stadium car park. Mourinho was later handed a four-match suspension by UEFA. Days later, Taylor and his family were subjected to abuse from supporters while travelling through Budapest Airport.
Reflecting on those events in an interview last year, Taylor described the incident as the worst abuse he had experienced during his career.
He said the experience was especially difficult because his family were present and stressed that the hostility highlighted the real-world consequences of fans’ behaviour, despite there being no major refereeing errors in the match.
Taylor also officiated at the FIFA Club World Cup in 2022 and 2025, and had previously suggested retirement was approaching as maintaining the physical demands of elite refereeing became increasingly challenging.
His departure leaves a significant vacancy in English football’s refereeing ranks. Ahead of the 2026-27 season, Pro Ref — formerly known as PGMO — has reorganised its officials into a single professional referee group serving both the Premier League and Championship, with the aim of accelerating the development of emerging referees such as Farai Hallam and Tom Kirk.
Howard Webb, chief refereeing officer at Pro Ref, paid tribute to Taylor’s career, saying he had been repeatedly trusted with the game’s biggest occasions and thanking him for his outstanding contribution to football while wishing him success in the future.