Who is Darren England? The Official Taking Charge of the FA Cup Final

Leading the 22 players onto the pitch for the FA Cup final is a chance of a lifetime. But for Darren England, the opportunity comes with plenty of pressure as he prepares to referee his first-ever FA Cup final. For the Doncaster-born referee, it is the biggest assignment so far as he prepares to pass it with flying colours as one of the best football clubs, Manchester City, lock horns with Chelsea in the FA Cup final on May 16th. Dive in and learn more about Darren England, his career, and controversies ahead of the key game.

Who is Darren England?

Darren Jon Herbert England, born on December 23, 1985, in Doncaster, is a Premier League football referee. Having completed his A-Levels from Barnsley College in 2004, England graduated with a BA (Hons) in Sport & Recreation Development from Leeds Beckett University in 2007. England began his professional career as a referee in the Football Conference before making the jump to the Football League in 2015. Refereeing the League Two Play-Off Final in 2017 was one of the key achievements during that spell.

Several impressive performances saw Darren England make a jump to the top-flight as he was made a Premier League referee in 2020. He debuted in the top-flight clash between Southampton vs Wolves at St.Mary's. The England referee has been a regular fixture on the referee panels since then. In 2022, he entered the FIFA List of International Match Officials, along with earning a place on the UEFA referees list as well.

However, the 2026 FA Cup Final added another feather in his cap. England was an assistant referee at the 2015 Final and was a fourth official at the 2025 Final. The FA Cup Final is also historic as Akil Howson becomes the first Black official to feature in the game. Darren England Referee controversy was on the cards before.

Darren England Referee Controversy

On 30 September 2023, Darren England was on VAR duty as Tottenham hosted Liverpool in a Premier League clash. Liverpool's Luis Diaz scored to make it 1-1, but the goal was chalked due to an offside flag. England checked the goal and cleared the play, knowing Diaz was onside. There was a major blunder as the VAR team later admitted they believed the on-field call was a goal. Once the message was delivered to the on-field referee, Simon Hooper, that they had to reverse the call, the play resumed, and the referee was powerless to halt the play.

Knowing a perfectly onside goal was chalked off due to a VAR error, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp went berserk at the referee team. The PGMOL issued an apology, and England, along with AVAR Dan Cook, were subsequently dropped for a few fixtures.

England was also dropped from all the Liverpool fixtures for that season. But Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer, made sure England did not lose his job. But there was no respite on his purse as he was fined £1,200 from his basic salary of £150,000, according to the Telegraph.