From Ossett Under-10s to Wembley: Huddersfield referee to officiate FA Cup final

Andy Madley has refereed Premier League matches since 2011 Credit: PA

The referee in charge of this weekend's FA Cup final says he expect to be kept awake by "nerves" the night before the game.

Andy Madley, from Huddersfield, began officiating under-10s matches in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, around 20 years ago, but will on Saturday walk out in front of 90,000 fans when Manchester United face Manchester City at Wembley.

He has overseen Premier League matches since 2011, but says the cup final will be a special day.

Madley, 40, said: "To get that phone call to say that you're going to be refereeing this year's FA Cup final, that's the dream, that's the pinnacle when you become a referee. I watched the game from being seven or eight years old and you'd sit in front of the television and you wouldn't move all day.

"I think there'll be a mixture of excitement and nerves but hopefully they'll all pull together and help me and my team perform well on the day."

Andy Madley will referee the FA Cup final between Manchester United and Manchester City on Saturday. Credit: PA

Although he is now one of the UK's top referees, Madley admits he wasn't enamoured with the job to start with.

He said: "Being perfectly honest, the first two years I questioned whether it was for me. I did it because it probably put a little bit of petrol in the car and paid for the odd beer in the student union while I was at university.

"Then I refereed a game at Yorkshire Amateurs in Leeds and I turned up on this particular day and I remember seeing a programme and it had my name in it. And I remember I could hear the turnstiles clicking around and I could hear the music being played before the game and there was a part of me that was like: I've made it."

Madley's younger brother and fellow referee, Bobby, congratulated him on being chosen for the final in a post on X saying "Dad would be so proud", in reference to their father who died in 2011.

Andy Madley said: "He'd seen me be an assistant referee in the Premier League, he'd never seen me referee a Football League game.

"But also one of the songs that we played at his funeral was Abide With Me, which obviously gets played at the FA Cup final so I think that'll be quite a touching moment, I hope the cameras aren't on me at that point."

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