Interesting. When the FA Cup Final is awarded I believe past performances over a number of seasons are taken into account and I think Kevin Friend's longevity on SG1 and the fact that he has been a reliable if unspectacular performer has got him this appointment. I don't think Scott will ever receive the honour but I am sure Kananagh and Tierney will in due course and Pawson most certainly will, probably next year if he continues his progress.
I wonder if the apointing powers ever considered Mason for the Final ? Somehow I would doubt it.
Yes, I think it makes sense to give Friend the final now because he has had a decent season generally - I would say at least the equal of Scott, maybe a bit better, and he has been a steady performer in the SG for 10 years now.
I t hink Pawson's had a good season and am sure he will get it imminently but he should have plenty of years left so whether this year or next doesn't really matter.
Tierney and Kavanagh are still in the relatively early stages of their SG career so I'm not sure it makes sense to rush into giving them the appointment (and Tierney didn't do very well on the Man City V Watford game earlier in the season and I don't think Kavanagh has ever refereed Man City/Man Utd so far) - better to let them develop for a bit and gain more experience so that they are refereeing the cup final more at the peak of their career. Clattenburg said that after doing all the major finals in 2016 he started to run out of goals to set so there can be a 'risk' in giving officials big appointments too early (not saying that happened with Clattenburg.)