Well done to those appointed. I'm glad that Scott Ledger has got the final as I think he's been a strong AR for a number of years and I know his lack of a cup final appointment has been remarked on before.
We obviously don't know what the merit table looks like, but as a general point it is an interesting question if the appointment should always go simply to the highest referee on the merit table not to have had the final yet or if other factors should be taken into account.
Were Probert in 2014 and Moss in 2015 both higher than Taylor/Oliver in the merit table that season? I'm not sure. But even if not I think it was reasonable to hold Taylor and Oliver back a few years because both were clearly building up their experience and weren't at their peak yet so it would have seemed a bit premature for them and you also want a referee to still have things to strive for rather than reaching too many milestones too early.
It feels to me like this year's final has come at a more natural point for Tierney to get it than Hooper. Tierney's been on the PL list for longer, has been a FIFA referee and has had experience of doing some of the biggest PL matches for 3 seasons or so, whereas Hooper is probably at the end of his first. I think I'm comfortable with Tierney's appointment therefore. Hopefully Hooper can maintain this level and develop a bit more experience and will have a chance to do the final in a subsequent year.
Obviously it's a delicate balance as you can never be sure when a referee might lose form or get an injury or take a job in Saudi Arabia. And I think you could probably say it's different if referee A was 3rd in the merit table and referee B was 4th compared to if one was 3rd and the other was 15th.
But it feels like they're both probably in a similar ballpark. Tierney has had lots of the big head to heads this season like Hooper has done. And of course the season is still ongoing so the merit table presumably fluctuates and someone who was higher at the time of the FA Cup semi-finals might be lower now.