Premier League ref Taylor for Turf Moor

Last updated : 23 September 2011 By Tony Scholes

He's been on the Football League list since the beginning of the 2006/07 season and he got his first Premier League game in February 2010 when he refereed Fulham's 1-0 home win against Portsmouth.

His first Burnley game was a quiet affair; the 1-0 win against Plymouth in January 2008 that gave Owen Coyle his first Turf Moor win as Burnley manager. Just under a year later he provided one or two controversial moments at Bramall Lane, none more so than when he awarded a penalty against Brian Jensen as Billy Sharp, shall we say, went down far too easily.

Controversy does follow Taylor around and no more so than in his first game of this season when he yellow carded seven players and sent off three in Leeds' 1-0 home defeat against Middlesbrough. Both managers hit out with Simon Grayson reporting him to his bosses and Tony Mowbray admitting he was having to bite his tongue.

It was only a week ago that he got his first Premier League game of the season, Wolves v QPR. There were five yellow cards in that game - Adlène Guédioura and Sam Vokes of Wolves and QPR's Jay Bothroyd, Alejandro Faurlin and Anton Ferdinand.

To date this season he's refereed four games and there have been no less than 20 yellow cards. Thankfully his red card has remained in his pocket since Elland Road. Of those yellow cards, 11 have gone to home team players and 9 to away team players.

What to expect from Taylor? He's certainly not the sort of referee who will want to blend into the background. One way or another I think he'll be noticed. And as a warning; he might not have used his red card since the first game but he's sent off an incredible 42 players since the start of 2006/07.

The assistant referees tomorrow are Bobby Pollock (Merseyside) and David Richardson (West Yorkshire). The fourth official is Football League referee Michael Naylor (South Yorkshire) who refereed our home draw against Coventry last season.

Previous Burnley Games

Season Opponents V Res Y R Burnley Players Carded
             
2007/08 Plymouth Argyle h 1-0 2 0 n Varga
2008/09 Sheffield United a 3-2 4 0 n Elliott, Jordan