Paul Tierney has been appointed referee for Arsenal’s trip to Manchester United this weekend and it will come as something of a surprise to learn that he hails from just three miles away from Old Trafford, but that’s the least of Arsenal’s problems with him.
Paul Tierney will take charge of Arsenal’s trip to Old Trafford this weekend in what seems an odd choice given the referee comes from Salford, an area of Manchester well known for it’s Manchester United connections.
Salford City FC is, for instance, owned by Project 92 Limited, named after the Manchester United Class of ’92. Project 92 is owned by David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes and Peter Lim. Lim owns Hotel Football, which sits next to Old Trafford.
But back to Paul Tierney.
It is claimed that Paul Tierney is a Wigan fan but that article also claims he’s from Wigan, some 20 miles away from Salford where Wikipedia says he was born.
Of course, we can’t say that he is a United fan, but we do know that Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, believes Tierney has a problem with him.
Klopp watched at least three big calls go against his side when Tierney took charge of their game against Tottenham back in December.
If anything, we might wonder if Tierney is actually a Spurs fan.
During that Liverpool game, like most refs, Tierney ignored a red card challenge by Harry Kane, issuing only a yellow, turned down a clear penalty for a foul on Diego Jota and sent off Andy Robertson, the player Kane nearly broke.
You may also remember Tierney from Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat at Tottenham in May when he sent off Rob Holding while also booking Martin Odegaard, Granit Xhaka and Emile Smith Rowe.
He booked only one Tottenham player that day and also gave them the most ridiculous penalty when Son threw himself through the air as he was brushed by Cedric Soares.
Even Mark Clattenburg said it wasn’t a penalty.
Last season, Tierney also refereed Arsenal’s early 2-0 defeat by Chelsea at home, booking three Arsenal players (Holding, Mari, Sambi) and none from Chelsea.
In total, he refereed three Arsenal games last season, all of which Arsenal lost. The third game was Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat at Crystal Palace.
That’s a record of P3 L3F 0 A8 under Paul Tierney last season.
In 20/21, Tierney took charge of two Arsenal games, one of which Arsenal managed to win.
In 19/20, he was in charge of five Arsenal games, two of which Arsenal won, so over the previous three seasons under Paul Tierney, Arsenal have the following record:
- P10 W2 D3 L5 F11 A18
In those 10 games, he booked 22 Arsenal players and sent 3 off.
For the opposition, 16 yellows and zero red cards.
So, yes, Paul Tierney on Sunday.
Can’t wait.
Officials for Manchester United vs Arsenal
- Referee: Paul Tierney.
- Assistants: Lee Betts, Constantine Hatzidakis.
- Fourth official: Simon Hooper.
- VAR: Lee Mason.
- Assistant VAR: Neil Davies.
Previous officials for Arsenal matches this season
Arsenal vs Fulham
- Referee: Jarred Gillett.
- Assistants: Simon Long, Richard West.
- Fourth official: Thomas Bramall.
- VAR: Michael Oliver.
- Assistant VAR: Lee Betts.
AFC Bournemouth vs Arsenal
- Referee: Craig Pawson.
- Assistants: Marc Perry, Scott Ledger.
- Fourth official: Graham Scott.
- VAR: Paul Tierney.
- Assistant VAR: Dan Robathan.
Arsenal vs Leicester
- Referee: Darren England.
- Assistants: James Mainwaring, Wade Smith.
- Fourth official: Robert Jones.
- VAR: Mike Dean.
- Assistant VAR: Derek Eaton.
Crystal Palace vs Arsenal
- Referee: Anthony Taylor.
- Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn.
- Fourth official: Peter Bankes.
- VAR: Darren England.
- Assistant VAR: James Mainwaring.