RateTheRef

Combining my two interests of football refereeing and geography I have looked at the residences of Cup Final referees over the last 45 years. ( I know it's sad but there you go ) It shows what I had hitherto suspected that in senior appointments there has been a noticeable drift northwards in recent years. Here are my findings

In the last 15 years there has been only 1 FA Cup Final Referee to live south of Birmingham ( Lee Probert ) and 13 from north and 1 level ( Marriner )
In the 15 years before that there were 10  Referees coming from south of Birmingham and 5  from north
In the 15 years before that there were 9 referees coming from south of Birmingham and 6 from north.

The results from the most recent 15 years are skewed slightly because Taylor and Oliver, both north, were appointed twice.

When one looks at likely appointees to the FA Cup Final in the next few years  Tierney, Attwell, Bankes, A Madley, England, Coote then all are north except Attwell who is level with Birmingham.

I haven't done an analysis of present SG1 referees but I am sure most of them are from the north of Birmingham.

There appears to be a clear northern drift. I wonder why ? I have heard it said a few times ( and by people who have moved location from north to south and vice versa )that when a referee is making their way through the ranks then the Assessments and Observations are more kindly and positive in the north than the south.  I don't know. It may be that there is more referee investment in the north than the south.  Or it may all just be a statistical quirk. Any thoughts ?