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| 2026 World Cup was the last goal for experienced English Elite Anthony Taylor |
UEFA's Elite referee group is entering a period of renewal. Today, English referee Anthony Taylor officially announced his retirement from international refereeing, bringing an end to a remarkable career at the highest level.
At the same time, reports also suggest that Slavko Vinčić of Slovenia could be retiring after the FIFA World Cup. However, unlike Taylor's decision, there has been no official confirmation from Vinčić himself so far.
If both departures are confirmed, UEFA will lose two of its most experienced Elite referees in a short period of time. This means that new talents will have to emerge to maintain the high standard of the Elite category. England, in particular, will need to develop new referees capable of following in Taylor's footsteps, while UEFA as a whole will be looking for the next generation of top officials.
In particular, UEFA seems to have already started some plans regarding the English field: Sam Barrott is working hard to make it. Will he live up tom expectations? Time will tell.
What about Marciniak? He had been reported as retired referee multiple times even before WC 2026, but maybe he will continue now after that?
ReplyDeleteRarely will I concede efforts by the PGMOL (now ProREF) to be forward thinking or succession planning but I do think there is cause for optimism (firstly for a long time) about the future of English refereeing. Fortunately barring any personal reasons or injuries you should have Olive continuing to fly through flag for at least another 5 seasons minimum. Then you have the "up and comers" who are a fairly growing group of referees who with the right guidance and upward improvement of performances should find themselves in that territory over time. For me, I would say the next "big" talent would be Sam Barrott and then below that I would have Farai Hallam and Tom Kirk (both early 30s) and then Andrew Kitchen (late 20s). There are other candidates who may emerge and stake a claim but that's my pick at the moment.
ReplyDeleteOn the wider European picture, if Vincic does retire then it is up to everyone to improve and raise their standards across the whole elite group. The middle upper elites to become to elites, the lower middle to become the middle upper and the new elites recently promoted who I think amongst them Jablonski and Walsh would be my two standouts of the new group.
Surely Kavangh will be ahead of Brooks
DeleteDefinitly Barrott a very talented referee ,interestingly he took charge of a friendly between two local non league sides ,showing that he hasn't forgotten his roots.
DeleteIf I am honest, I don't see either Kavanagh or Brooks beings long term replacements to Taylor, Kavanagh due to age and Brooks due to injury.
DeleteBrooks isn't consistent enough to be considered for Elite level
DeleteThere is no reason why Vincic should continue his career. He has refereed the Champions League final and the World Cup final. His age does not guarantee that he can reach the level required to officiate a EURO final. I believe this is the maximum and that he has reached the level every referee dreams of.
ReplyDeleteWell this two informations led us to think that we will have more than two uefa promotions this year to Elite, so my candidates will be, if their path continiue like last years:
ReplyDelete1. Minakovic
2.Brooks-if injuries avoid him
3.Spanish referee( strongly belive that that can be Arbeloa
4. Van Der Ejik
Then,we need to be aware that in next 2-3 years there will be 6-7 departure from Elite category,so young generation need to take over. Than, Euro 2028 is close, and there will also be 7-8 different names than in 2024. So good luck to new generations, and hope that UEFA will gave chance to them.
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DeleteHopefully the names are already pre-printed on the Laws of the Game test — otherwise Arbeloa’s (and van der Ejik's) toughest question might be the one at the top of the page: “Name:”
Delete(a) ARBELOA
(b) ALBEROLA
(c) BALALERO
(d) LABORALE
(e) ORALABLE
*Arberola
DeleteBrooks is a good ref but would need to do a lot more to become Elite in my opinion. Hopefully he can step up but the Elite must (should) be the best of the best from each country.
DeleteTo be honest, I think Kavanagh is lucky to be on the list. He doesn’t have the personality on field for the biggest games.
There’s a very big drop off from Oliver to whoever’s next. Hopefully some newer names will step up and begin to fill Taylor’s boots.
I wish Taylor success in his future life. He is a legend, and we will miss him.
ReplyDeleteI hope we can see Vincic for one more year. I don't think UEFA would want to lose two Elite referees in the same year. It feels to me like Vincic will continue for one more year
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DeleteHow do you know this? Are you a relative of Slavko or something? :)
DeleteDo we have any Slovenian friends here? What do the news say about Vincic?
ReplyDeleteHe will retire for sure. Already had a last match on domestic league in may. He will most probably take one function in slovenia refeering comittee and in the near future also uefa isnt excluded.. but also depends on him, i think now he would like to spend more time with his family…
DeleteFirst, thank you Chefren for posting this news here on the blog I very much like this approach
ReplyDeleteI know lots of people here don't like Taylor but he has just been so unlucky in his career like all modern English referees are, the challenges are many on that note I also feel sorry for [OLIVER] because he might not be able to achieve the best by his standards
. Taylor in a nutshell deserved more than he was offered in his pretty impressive career,
Over the years he has been a great professional and he also showed us expertise at this summer World Cup topping up your favorites {Marciniak Makkelie Kovacs Letexier etc}
Best of luck Sir Taylor at the next chapter of your life
Thank you for serving the beautiful game you were always a joy to watch
You can add Benoit Bastien and Stéphanie Frappart from France.
ReplyDeleteDear all, why propose new candidates?UEFA increased the number of Elitereferees from 25 to 35 for 1,5 years ago. Why? We dont have 35 Elite and all are not appointed for Champions League when the groupstage starts and that means that all are not Elite. UEFA doesn't move any referees to a lower category nowadays! Why?
ReplyDeleteIf Vinčić is hanging out on TikTok, he will continue refereeing for another year.. :) He has got millions of fans, and the edits about him have got millions of views and millions of likes on the platform..
ReplyDeletehttps://vm.tiktok.com/ZN817yr36/
In that case, he'll choose another profession. :D
DeleteTaylor deserves a happy retirement ,although i do think a media career might be the next move.. As for young up and coming referees ,Samuel Barrott will be the one to follow in Taylor's footsteps ,a very good referee under pressure
ReplyDeleteIt was widely expected since time comes for everyone and I’m suspected that Marciniak and Turpin will retire too. Considering that Karasev and Grinfeld are in the elite list even if not fully deserved, just in my opinion with all respect, it’s really time for Uefa to quickly build a new generation of high level official
ReplyDeleteBastien and Frappart too; right
DeleteBarrott is never in Taylor league ! Barrott is very poor imo, lacks leadership and strength and I wouldn’t for one want to see him on the big games.
ReplyDeleteHallam no chance either, works for the football association …. Not good enough to be truly elite.
Kirk - decent ! I rate him if he pushes on he could push into the top 3 in England.
Comparing Barrott and Taylor makes zero sense. Barrott wasn’t even 10 years old when Taylor became a referee. By the time Barrott joined the EPL list Taylor had been on it for 14 seasons! Of course he’s not at the same level.
DeleteI also disagree that he’s poor, I think he’s a talented young ref who’s clearly been pushed lots. In his 2 seasons on the EPL list he’s done bigger games than some who have been there for years longer. I’m not saying he can’t improve, though, absolutely he can. But it’s too early to say how far he’ll go. Time is on his side.
Assuming Vincic retires the elite of the elite panel is looking thin. Turpin, Letexier, Oliver, Marciniak, Makkelie, Kovacs really the only names on there now. And the last two are a step down.
ReplyDeleteAnd siebert
DeleteTomasz Listkiewicz (AR in Marciniak team) said that they were ready for one of QFs/SFs as Collina suggested but due to Argentina progression they were eliminated.
ReplyDelete(I posted this on a different thread but it makes more sense here)
ReplyDeleteFantastic servant to English football and of course on the international scene. Some of his achievements:
PL referee since 2010
2x FA Cup Final
League Cup Final
Play-off Final
FIFA listed since 2013, Elite since 2018
EL Final
Nations League Final
Super Cup
2x World Cup
2x Euro
CL SF
Taylor was still receiving good PL appointments and had a good WC. He will be a big loss to the EPL especially, they could give him any game from derbies to title/relegation matches and know the game is in safe hands.
I suppose he was never going to get CL Final or referee at another international tournament. I also read his quote saying ‘the pressure is intense and the scrutiny is constant’ which is certainly true! I suppose all of this combined, his retirement actually makes sense.
What a fantastic career that he should be proud of, and if he ever happened to read this I wish him the absolute best in his retirement and whatever comes next. Bravo, Mr Taylor.
Mourinho is partly to blame for Taylor going ,his disgraceful treatment of him , definitely made him question ,whether he wanted to referees anymore.
DeleteAdham Makhadmeh was heroically welcomed by thousands of people in his country. Wonderful scenes. Vincic was probably welcomed only by his family :)
ReplyDeleteI love these cultural differences
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbD0to3CvR7/?igsh=MWV6eWQ1YXJpY2RqMg==
DeleteFirst, great career for both of them even more Vincic after this tournament.
ReplyDeleteI think we were a lot this year to call out poor referees and poor appointments in UEFA competition and that only a few names were at the level needed. We also talked a lot about the next generation that would have to be ready quickly but i was never expecting top names like this to stop their career that soon meaning that those younger refs will have to be ready sooner. I think this is just the beginning and that after EURO 2028 all of the big names expect Letexier will have retire and this is huge for UEFA.
Now UEFA is dealing with a big case, who will be the next generation, imo i do not see a lot of potential candidate who have the level of those who are retiring. Also think that with referees that only know games with VAR, we will never have big character or big personality like we used to know and it's a problem we all noticed the last couple of seasons.
Huge time ahead for UEFA committee to resolve that.
Btw i don't think Turpin will retire now, he will still try to get out like Kuipers did with a EURO final in 2028 imo, i will not say the same thing about Marciniak who is maybe closer to the retirement.
DeleteTwo consecutive Euro finals for French referees is not right.
DeleteI also don't think that Turpin will have the 2028 final for that e
Deletereason, but in my opinion, if he's the best referee of the tournement and the French national team allows it by not progressing, Turpin should have the final.
I deeply hope that Makkelie will have a chance to referee a big final and why not 2028?
If Taylor, Marciniak, and Vincic all retired at the same time, the only ones left at their caliber would be Oliver, Letexier, and Turpin.
ReplyDeleteI don't really think Glenn,Espen And Sibert can fill their shoes.. Zwayer is already likely entering the final year of his career.
The real problem for the UEFA referee committee starts now..
I forgot Makkelie.
DeleteIn 1-2 years you will have Jablonski on that level. Trust me.
DeleteIn these situations you can't help but feel that the Super Cup final is half wasted on a non-UEFA referee. Yes they won political points now, but it would have been an excellent game for one of those referees who are "supposed" to take the step up to the top elites. But they'll maybe have their chances with next year's finals.
DeleteI wouldn't be surprised if we see CONMEBOL and CONCACAF referees in UEFA competitions this year.
ReplyDeleteIvan Bebek had an interview when he returned back to Croatia, day or two before final and he confirmed it would be Slavko's final game.
ReplyDeleteKavanagh can now start charging up for the upcoming home tournament Euro 28, with a good build up to the finals he can reach the knockout stage
ReplyDeleteBrooks, for me he is best in the standby list the Premier League has to offer and the 2026/27 season can be his year to make it into UEFA elite provided no more injury worries
Barrott is the the future and soon the present, he is a special talent and with Webb's seal of approval , the future looks bright for the young lad
I think PL is in more jeopardy than UEFA, Taylor was a regular for the ALL big games in the premier league but now you only have;
Oliver
Kavanagh
Gillett
or maybe Brooks Barrott
Uefa will only use one year to manufacture the top elites, we have Kovacs Letexier has great examples, for sure next season will be for middle and lower elites to land triumphantly
If I were UEFA's Referee Committee, I would do whatever it takes to persuade Marciniak and Vincic to take another year. I would give them a pay raise and absolutely keep them. Otherwise, the number of referees officiating matches at the elite level this year can't even be counted on one hand.
ReplyDeleteSome of you are too dramatic. Life went one and after Brych, Kuipers, Cakir. The same will be now without Marciniak, Vincic, Taylor. Let them retire in peace, I would not try to persuade nobody to continue. The situation is definitely not so bad.
ReplyDeleteWe have Very Top (random order): Oliver, Turpin, Letexier, Kovacs, Makkelie, Mariani
And also Top (random order): Zwayer, Siebert, Pinheiro, Eskas, Nyberg, Scharer, Sanchez
Give the next gen the chance to progress (random order): Jablonski, Brooks, Rojas, Delajod, Fotias, Barbu, Lambrechts
I fully agree; good explanation and summary.
DeleteMariani imo one stage below very top, Walsh is definitely a man with a bright future
DeleteAgree on the fact that we will ‘’forget’’ them and that we will focus on the next generation but for me since the retirement of Kuipers, Brych, Cakir we lost in personality and character and I think it’s important now with big players to have those referees and when Marciniak, Turpin or Vincic will all be gone that will miss imo.
DeleteJablonski is definitely a referee with a promising future in my opinion. He strongly reminds me of the young Letexier.
DeleteI don’t see a strong personality in Jablonski; he might be a good referee, but he isn’t tough. He has an aura that is very easily manipulated... he needs to change this. Just imagine, when there are dirty-playing teams like Argentina and Paraguay, I don’t think jablonski would be able to handle that kind of pressure..
DeleteHe is a strong personality and even issued a yellow-red card to Rodri in the CL game, which Rodri fully accepted.
Delete@ex-ref Rodri is a respectful player. It's normal.
DeleteRodri is nothing comparing to Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. He had England x Uruguay.... he got many comments.
DeleteYou expect respect for Zwayer—who was just one of many at the World Cup—so please show the same respect to Jablonski, who has overtaken Zwayer in Germany.
DeleteI said nothing of disrespect. Including hes one of my favorite as well. I just said that he found difficulties whistling with Uruguay which is normal.
DeleteHey, I noticed a news article on Facebook about the UEFA Preseason Refereeing Catch up. Anything further about directives and what they meant by limiting VAR interventions?
ReplyDeleteI don't know in particolar but it's easy to imagine that Rosetti used this opportunity to send a clear message: UEFA has no intention of following the path taken at the Club World Cup. In particular, the mistaken identity was applied to completely different types of offences. Rosetti objective is clearly to keep VAR operating under the UEFA approach that existed before 11 June. Ironically, what happened at the Club World Cup will only generate even more confusion among fans unfamiliar with refereeing, who will now inevitably wonder why similar incidents are treated differently in UEFA competitions, after WC.
DeleteIt wil be not easy, but about WC we can say, some rules were given only because Collina wanted that, and that is something one should reflect about.
On the mistaken identity, this is a text from IFAB so every competition with VAR will have to use this new protocol no matter what confederation using it. So imo Rosetti will not have a choice on this as it's not an option for every competition, only the CK reviews or covering his mouth resulting in a RC is an option.
DeleteOn the foul detection or even handball, i think the guidelines for this WC was a joke and we will just come back to a ''normal'' refereeing, so yes this is terrible for the fans and even the players who will be more inclined to dissent a situation that is not resulting in the same way as if it was a WC game.
It will also be interesting if UEFA is following FIFA on the technology development with body cameras or VAR announcement after OFR, also the advanced SAOT with audio alert, a lot of questions than still need answers.
Chefren hello please wc 2026 referees analysis
ReplyDeleteI think something to really look at is actually the general age profile of the elite category there could be up to 14 retirements in the next 3 years due to age not counting the already 3 announced
ReplyDeleteNext year 2027 only 9 of Elite are younget than 40 years old and are 46 and more!!
ReplyDelete9 are more than 46!
ReplyDeleteRemoving the age limit, rather than raising it, has been a disaster for refereeing.
DeleteThe age limit issue needs to be dropped. The UEFA Referees Committee only assigns referees aged 30–35 to the UEFA Youth League or Conference League qualifying rounds. Meanwhile, in CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, 30-year-old referees officiate World Cup matches—for example, Ivan Barton handled three matches in 2022 at just 30–31 years old.
ReplyDelete'When will we finally see young referees in UEFA's top-tier tournaments?
+ Look at UEFA's elite referee list... There is only 1 elite referee under the age of 37
Delete