Paul Tierney: The referee officiating the 2022/23 FA Cup final
By Dan Hepburn
Manchester United and Manchester City will go toe-to-toe in the FA Cup final as the Red Devils look to halt their neighbours' treble chase.
Pep Guardiola may have a Champions League final to contend with next week, but his sole focus for the time being will be on securing FA Cup glory for the seventh time in the club's history.
Each side have a win under their belt from two meetings already this season, but neither encounter was as highly anticipated as this one.
The man in charge at Wembley will be Paul Tierney, who is officiating a Manchester derby for the first time.
Who is Paul Tierney?
Tierney is a Wigan-born referee who made his Premier League debut back in August 2014. He has been a regular in the top flight since the 2017/18 season.
The 42-year-old, who is registered with the Lancashire Football Association, was promoted to the FIFA list of referees in 2018. Just four years later in 2022, he was then removed.
In May 2019, Tierney enjoyed his first final at Wembley when he officiated the Championship play-off final between Aston Villa and Derby County, with the former running out 2-1 winners.
Almost two years later, Tierney made his return to Wembley to take charge of the 2021 EFL Cup final between Manchester City and Spurs. City won 1-0 thanks to a late Aymeric Laporte goal.
He has never officiated Manchester derby before.
Has Paul Tierney ever refereed a Manchester United game?
Tierney's last game involving Man Utd came back in February, where Erik ten Hag's outfit came out 2-0 victors away at rivals Leeds.
Across 22 games officiated involving Man Utd, the Red Devils have won 14 of those, drawing four and losing four.
Tierney has never produced a red card in a game involving Man Utd.
However, 37 yellow cards have been shown to a Man Utd player across those 22 games Tierney has officiated.
Man Utd record with Paul Tierney as referee
Games | Win | Draw | Loss |
|---|---|---|---|
22 | 14 | 4 | 4 |
Has Paul Tierney ever refereed a Manchester City game?
During his officiating career, Tierney has taken charge of 26 Man City games, which is the most for any current top-flight side. Four of those games have come in the 2022/23 season.
In those 26 games, Man City have walked out victors 23 times, drawing once and losing twice. His latest game in charge of Man City was their 4-1 win over Bournemouth in late February.
Similar to their neighbours, Tierney has never dished out a red card in any of the 26 games involving the Citizens, though he has distributed 34 yellows in Man City's direction across those matches.
Man City record with Paul Tierney as referee
Games | Win | Draw | Loss |
|---|---|---|---|
26 | 23 | 1 | 2 |
What other matches has Paul Tierney refereed in the 2022/23 FA Cup campaign?
Tierney has officiated just one match of the FA Cup campaign so far, which incidentally involved Man City. He was appointed referee for their fourth round win against Arsenal.
Three yellow cards were handed out by Tierney on the evening. Arsenal's Rob Holding and Oleksandr Zinchenko were cautioned, while Ilkay Gundogan's 93rd-minute challenge on Granit Xhaka warranted a yellow card.
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