Bad refereeing has been tarnishing the Premier League’s reputation of late. Names like Simon Hooper, Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor are unpopular in footballing communities.
Anthony Taylor in particular though has continuously rubbed a certain fanbase the wrong way for a long time now. Anthony Taylor at Chelsea games has become a partnership that makes the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Earlier this week, it was rumoured that Anthony Taylor would be officiating Chelsea’s Premier League game against Brighton this weekend. This would have been Taylor’s third Chelsea game of the season, despite the season having only just started.
However, it has been alleged that he will no longer referee the Chelsea vs Brighton game after discussions within the FA. Peter Bankes will instead take charge of the game, with Michael Oliver on VAR.
A Historic Clash in the Making
The last Chelsea game that Anthony Taylor was in charge of was the Blue’s 1-0 win over Bournemouth earlier this month.
The scoreline may suggest otherwise, but that was a history-defining game. In that game, Anthony Taylor showed 14 yellow cards, a new Premier League record. Many of his decisions during that 90′ were highly ridiculed, as some appeared to be way too harsh.
Chelsea and Bournemouth are supposedly facing Football Association fines of £25,000 for picking up more than six yellow cards in a match – eight Chelsea players were booked. As for Anthony Taylor, he was not allowed to officiate any Premier League games in the weekend that followed.
A Deep History
There are many decisions Anthony Taylor has made against Chelsea that sparked uproar in the media. There are also many incidents that he has ‘ignored’ in Chelsea games that have added fuel to the fire.
Chelsea supporters believe that a majority of the decisions from Taylor have unfairly influenced their matches, fostering a sense of bias against their team.
A game that really sparked controversy was the 2020 FA Cup final. It was a London Derby clash where the Blues faced Arsenal, and contrary to unpopular demand, Anthony Taylor was chosen to referee that game.
Chelsea took the lead early thanks to a Christian Pulisic goal, but Arsenal equalized shortly after. Not without controversy though. César Azpilicueta had fouled Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who was making his way to Chelsea’s goal. However, the foul appeared to continue into the box, rather than start in the box. Taylor still awarded the penalty, which the Frenchman converted.
Also in that game, Mateo Kovačić was sent off after receiving two yellow cards. However, it has since been argued that the second yellow was unfairly given, with Kovačić’s foul attempt too soft to convict a card.
Arsenal went on to win the final 2-1, with controversies surrounding their victory.
That match is only one amongst a sea of incidents that Chelsea supporters are unhappy with concerning Anthony Taylor. There’s Cucurella’s hair pull from Romero, Reece James’ ‘handball’ against Liverpool, a kick on Alonso from Gazziniga, Azpilicueta’s ‘push’ and Giroud’s ‘offside’ against Manchester United among others that many supporters are still unhappy about.
Many Chelsea supporters believe that Anthony Taylor should never be allowed to referee Chelsea games, whether as the main man, on the sidelines or as VAR. His recent removal from the Chelsea vs Brighton fixture, suggests that we are on the way to seeing that come into full effect.