Ref Oliver has happy memories of Chelsea and United
MICHAEL Oliver says he is ‘proud and humbled’ to be refereeing today’s FA Cup final.
And the 33-year-old says the fact it is United v Chelsea adds to the significance of the day.
“It’s funny how things work out because the 1994 Final between Manchester United and Chelsea is the first one I remember watching,” said Oliver.
“And now here I am taking charge of those two teams in an FA Cup final 24 years later.
“I was very proud and humbled to receive the call. When you start out, taking charge of the Cup final is not something you even think about. As your career progresses it becomes a realistic target but it’s not a call you ever expect to take This opportunity only comes around once in a referee’s career.”
Oliver was the youngest official to take charge of a match at Wembley when he refereed the 2007 Conference National play-off final between Exeter City and Morecambe aged just 22.
The Ashington native has now built an impressive Wembley CV, adding the 2013 League Cup final, the FA Cup semi-final between Millwall and Wigan a few weeks later and the 2014 FA Community Shield to his list of showpiece matches.
“You still pinch yourself when you’re walking round the stadium the day before the game,” he said. You know where everything is, but you still go to acclimatise – and because it’s Wembley.
“The first time I did it there were only 40,000 people there. Each game I’ve done since the crowd has got a bit bigger and this will be the biggest game of the lot.”