View source for Graham Poll

{{short description|English football referee (born 1963)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox football official
| name = Graham Poll 
| image = Graham poll.JPG
| fullname = Graham Poll
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1963|07|29|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Hitchin]], [[Hertfordshire]], England<ref name=cometinterviewfeb2015>{{cite news
|title=Interview: Former referee Graham Poll on his return to action at Hitchin Town
|first=Damion
|last=Roberts
|work=The Comet
|location=Stevenage
|publisher=Archant
|url=http://www.thecomet.net/sport/hitchin-town-fc/interview_former_referee_graham_poll_on_his_return_to_action_at_hitchin_town_1_3944464
|date=5 February 2015
|access-date=10 November 2015
|quote=Poll was born in Hitchin and went to Thomas Alleyne School in Stevenage, before taking up refereeing locally in both the Hitchin Sunday and the Stevenage Sunday League. He had moved to Tring, and then to Reading, so being born in the town 'didn’t really come up; I wasn’t seen as having any particular allegiance.'
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214075851/http://www.thecomet.net/sport/hitchin-town-fc/interview_former_referee_graham_poll_on_his_return_to_action_at_hitchin_town_1_3944464
|archive-date=14 February 2015}}</ref>
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| otheroccupation = [[Television]] [[Pundit (expert)|pundit]], [[newspaper]] [[columnist]]
| years1              = ?–1991
| league1             = [[Isthmian Football League|Isthmian League]]
| role1               = [[Referee (association football)|Referee]]
| years2              = 1986–1991
| league2             = [[The Football League|Football League]]
| role2               = [[Assistant referee (association football)|Asst. referee]]
| years3              = 1991–1993
| league3             = [[The Football League|Football League]]
| role3               = [[Referee (association football)|Referee]]
| years4              = 1993–2007
| league4             = [[Premier League]]
| role4               = [[Referee (association football)|Referee]]
| internationalyears1 = 1996–2007
| confederation1      = [[FIFA International Referees List|FIFA listed]]
| internationalrole1  = Referee
}}
<!--[[Image:Graham poll.JPG|thumbnail|right|Graham Poll on the streets of England.]]-->
'''Graham Poll''' (born 29 July 1963) is an English former [[Football (soccer)|football]] [[Referee (association football)|referee]] in the [[Premier League]]. With 26 years of experience, he was one of the most prominent referees in English football, often taking charge of the highest-profile games. His final domestic game in a career spanning 1,544 matches was the [[Football League Championship|Championship]] play-off final on 28 May 2007 between [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]] and [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion]].<ref name="pollretires">[http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2089563,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=7 Graham Poll's retirement] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071119015908/http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0%2C%2C2089563%2C00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=7 |date=19 November 2007 }}: [[Guardian Unlimited]], 28 May 2007. Retrieved 28 May 2007.</ref>

He was the English representative at two World Cups and [[2000 European Football Championship|UEFA Euro 2000]], and refereed the [[2005 UEFA Cup Final]].

In his third game of the [[2006 FIFA World Cup]] in [[Germany]], [[2006 FIFA World Cup Group F#Croatia vs Australia|Croatia vs Australia]], he cautioned Croatian defender [[Josip Šimunić]] three times before sending him off. Poll retired from refereeing international tournament finals matches shortly afterwards, citing his error in the match. He continued to referee in the Premier League, Champions League and on international games, but said he would not allow himself to be nominated to represent the FA at any tournament finals as he felt he had had his chance.<ref name="retirement">{{cite news | title = Poll retires from international game | url = http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup2006/story/0,,1809120,00.html | work = [[The Guardian]] | date = 29 June 2006 | access-date = 29 June 2006 | location=London | first=Tom | last=Lutz | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071119020103/http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup2006/story/0,,1809120,00.html | archive-date = 19 November 2007 }}</ref>

==Football career==
Poll took up refereeing in 1980, progressing from the [[Isthmian Football League|Isthmian League]] to become a [[The Football League|Football League]] [[Assistant referee (association football)|assistant referee]] in 1986. Five years later he became a full Football League referee, before being selected for the list of [[Premier League]] referees in 1993.<ref>[http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk/page/RefereeProfilesDetail/0,,10794~628215,00.html Profile] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115195943/http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk/page/RefereeProfilesDetail/0%2C%2C10794~628215%2C00.html |date=15 January 2008 }}: [[the Football League]] official website. Retrieved 4 February 2008. he has now retired</ref>

Having held a [[FIFA]] badge since 1996, he took charge of European matches, including the [[UEFA Cup]] final between [[PFC CSKA Moscow|CSKA Moscow]] and [[Sporting Clube de Portugal|Sporting Lisbon]] in 2005. Poll also took charge of international matches, refereeing at FIFA and [[UEFA]] tournaments such as [[Euro 2000]], where Poll took charge of [[France national football team|France]] versus [[Czech Republic national football team|Czech Republic]], and [[Norway national football team|Norway]] versus [[Slovenia national football team|Slovenia]] in the group stages. 

In the dying seconds of the [[Merseyside derby]] between [[Everton FC|Everton]] and [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]] on 21 April 2000 with the score at 0–0,<ref>[http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=280978 Everton v. Liverpool, 2000] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041223162015/http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=280978 |date=23 December 2004 }}: [[soccerbase]].com website. Retrieved 17 February 2008.</ref> the Liverpool goalkeeper kicked the ball into [[Don Hutchison]]'s back while Hutchison was retreating towards his own half. The ball bounced into Liverpool's net, but Poll disallowed the goal, claiming that he had already blown the whistle to end the game. The television slow-motion pictures proved that this was incorrect, and after retiring in May 2007, Poll confessed that disallowing the goal had been a mistake that he regretted.<ref>[http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/everton-fc/everton-fc-news/2007/06/09/time-to-forgive-poll-for-howler-100252-19267964/ "Time to forgive Poll for howler"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222001612/http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/everton-fc/everton-fc-news/2007/06/09/time-to-forgive-poll-for-howler-100252-19267964/ |date=22 February 2012 }}: [[Liverpool Echo]], 9 June 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2008.</ref>

Poll refereed the [[Italy national football team|Italy]] versus [[Croatia national football team|Croatia]] game at the [[2002 FIFA World Cup]], played on Saturday 8 June 2002. Poll had a busy game, as there were forty-two fouls, three goals scored, two goals disallowed, and two bookings. Poll was given one more appointment at that world cup: Fourth Official to [[Pierluigi Collina]] in the second round match in which Turkey beat Japan 1–0.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/other_news/newsid_2034000/2034093.stm Keith Cooper's comments] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408201333/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/other_news/newsid_2034000/2034093.stm |date=8 April 2008 }} following Italy v. Croatia, World Cup 2002: BBC.co.uk website. Retrieved 6 September 2007.</ref>

Poll was the only English referee at the [[2006 FIFA World Cup]] in Germany. His first game was [[2006 FIFA World Cup Group G#South Korea vs Togo|South Korea vs Togo]]. Poll sent off [[Jean-Paul Abalo]] of Togo for a second bookable offence, and the match was eventually won by South Korea 2–1. His second game was [[2006 FIFA World Cup Group H#Saudi Arabia vs Ukraine|Saudi Arabia vs Ukraine]]. Ukraine finished the match as the 4–0 winners, and Poll showed six yellows, three to each side. His last game was [[2006 FIFA World Cup Group F#Croatia vs Australia|Croatia vs Australia]]. After already sending off two players, Poll failed to [[Misconduct (football)|send off]] [[Josip Šimunić]] for a second yellow card late in the match, eventually sending him off for a third yellow for dissent at the final whistle.<ref name="yellowcardvideo">{{cite web | title = Worldcup06 22.6. Croatia - Australia 2-2 |website = [[YouTube]]| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tbVirxgR7o | access-date =10 July 2006}}</ref> Poll stated that he had erred in his second booking of Šimunić, marking his card with the correct number (3) but in the wrong column due to Šimunić's Australian accent, meaning he booked Australia's [[Craig Moore]] instead of Simunic. The game ended 2–2, putting Australia through to the next round. On 28 June, Poll was named as one of 14 officials dismissed by FIFA from the remaining World Cup 2006 matches following his error in the Croatia v. Australia match.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news | title = Ref Poll sent home from World Cup | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2006/5108722.stm | date = 28 June 2006 | publisher = [[BBC]] | access-date =28 June 2006}}</ref> Maria Villar Llona, president of the FIFA referee's committee, said of Poll, "He is an exceptional referee and a great sportsman, who will be able to overcome the situation thanks to his strong personality and love of the game."<ref name="retirement" />

Poll retired from international tournament finals football on 29 June 2006, citing the error as the reason. He said in his retirement announcement,
<blockquote>What I did was an error in law. There can be no dispute. It was not caused by a FIFA directive, it was not caused by me being asked to referee differently to the way I referee in the Premier League. The laws of the game are very specific. The referee takes responsibility for his actions on the field of play. I was the referee that evening. It was my error and the buck stops with me.</blockquote>
In the press release, he also claimed that he had asked FIFA to be allowed to go home, to be with his family after the trauma of his mistake in the match.<ref name="retirement"/>

He continued to referee in the Champions League and on international games, but said he would not allow himself to be nominated to represent The FA at any tournament finals. "It's time for somebody else in England to have a go and I will do everything I can to prepare them. But for me tournament football is over," Poll said.<ref name="retirement"/>

His last match was to have been a [[2008 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying|Euro 2008 qualifying match]] on 6 June 2007.<ref>[http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro/fixturesresults/round=2241/match=83778/report=lu.html Poll no-show] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080126123945/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro/fixturesresults/round%3D2241/match%3D83778/report%3Dlu.html |date=26 January 2008 }} for his last game as a referee, [[Finland national football team|Finland]] v. [[Belgium national football team|Belgium]], 6 June 2007): [[UEFA|UEFA.com]] (6 June 2007). Retrieved 7 June 2007.</ref> After it was discovered he took part in an interview which appeared critical of the support referees receive from the FA in the face of criticism by team managers and coaches<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/6703221.stm Interview given in May 2007] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161028084837/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/6703221.stm |date=28 October 2016 }} regarding FA support for referees: [[BBC.co.uk]] (30 May 2007). Retrieved 31 May 2007.</ref> the match was overseen by [[Mike Riley (referee)|Mike Riley]] instead. In August 2007, Poll released his autobiography entitled "Seeing Red", and concentrated on being a [[Pundit (expert)|pundit]] for [[BBC Sport]]'s football coverage, and as a [[columnist]] with The [[Daily Mail]], his feature entitled "The Official Line".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eurosport.co.uk/football/champions-league-football-from-12-yards-out_sto4712493/story.shtml|title = Champions League football from 12 yards out|date = 6 May 2015}}</ref>

==International career details==
'''[[1998 FIFA World Cup (qualification)|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification]]'''

* 2 April 1997, [[Azerbaijan national football team|Azerbaijan]] 1–2 [[Finland national football team|Finland]]

'''[[2000 European Football Championship|UEFA Euro 2000]]'''
* 16 June 2000, [[Czech Republic national football team|Czech Republic]] 1–2 [[France national football team|France]]
* 21 June 2000, [[Slovenia national football team|Slovenia]] 0–0 [[Norway national football team|Norway]]

'''[[2002 FIFA World Cup (qualification)|2002 FIFA World Cup qualification]]'''

* 11 October 2000, [[Netherlands national football team|Netherlands]] 0–2 [[Portugal national football team|Portugal]]
* 1 September 2001, [[Slovenia national football team|Slovenia]] 2–1 [[Russia national football team|Russia]]
* 14 November 2001, [[Paraguay national football team|Paraguay]] 0–4 [[Colombia national football team|Colombia]]

'''[[2002 FIFA World Cup]]'''

* 8 June 2002, [[Italy national football team|Italy]] 1–2 [[Croatia national football team|Croatia]]

'''[[2006 FIFA World Cup (qualification)|2006 FIFA World Cup qualification]]'''

* 4 September 2004, [[Latvia national football team|Latvia]] 0–2 [[Portugal national football team|Portugal]]
* 17 August 2005, [[Latvia national football team|Latvia]] 1–1 [[Russia national football team|Russia]]
* 7 September 2005, [[Spain national football team|Spain]] 1–1 [[Serbia and Montenegro national football team|Serbia and Montenegro]]
* 12 October 2005, [[Bahrain national football team|Bahrain]] 0–0 [[Uzbekistan national football team|Uzbekistan]]
* 16 November 2005, [[Czech Republic national football team|Czech Republic]] 1–0 [[Norway national football team|Norway]]

'''[[2006 FIFA World Cup]]'''

* 13 June 2006, [[Korea Republic national football team|Korea Republic]] 2–1 [[Togo national football team|Togo]]
* 19 June 2006, [[Saudi Arabia national football team|Saudi Arabia]] 0–4 [[Ukraine national football team|Ukraine]]
* 22 June 2006, [[Croatia national football team|Croatia]] 2–2 [[Australia men's national soccer team|Australia]]

==Media==
Poll made several appearances on the football radio show ''[[World Soccer Daily]]'', where he was typically asked to provide a view from the point of the referee whenever major controversial issues occur. He also featured weekly on Chappers Premier League Podcast alongside Mark Chapman and Kevin Day. He also featured in the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' where he spoke on officiating at the highest level, talking about decisions referees have to make. He also appeared regularly as a pundit on [[Setanta Sports]] ''Football Matters'' show hosted by James Richardson and Rebecca Lowe. Since 2009, Poll has also appeared as a regular news paper reviewer on ''[[Sky News]] Sunrise'', and as a writer for DailyMail.com.

==Personal life==
Born in [[Hitchin]],<ref name=cometinterviewfeb2015/> Poll grew up in [[Bandley Hill]] and [[Shephall]], and attended Ashtree Junior School and [[Alleyne's School]].<ref>{{Cite web | title =Graham Poll | work =Hall of Fame 2010 | publisher =Sports Stevenage | year =2010 | url =http://www.sportstevenage.co.uk/docs/halloffame2010.pdf| access-date =9 July 2010 }} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title =Graham Poll - Legendary English Football Official | work =Testimonials | publisher =IMG | url =http://www.imgspeakers.com/speaker/Graham-Poll | access-date =9 July 2010 | url-status =dead | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110929080137/http://www.imgspeakers.com/speaker/Graham-Poll | archive-date =29 September 2011}}</ref> He is married to Julia. The couple have two daughters (Gemma and Josie), and one son (Harry). Poll is a QPR Supporter <ref>P[https://www.theguardian.com/uk_news/story/0,,2092726,00.html Wife and children]{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, two daughters and one son: ''The Guardian'', 1 June 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2008.</ref> Poll ran in the [[London Marathon]] on 13 April 2008, finishing in a time of four hours and 20 minutes.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7344939.stm London Marathon 2008] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416073136/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7344939.stm |date=16 April 2008 }}, finishes in 4hr 20min: from a report at the BBC.co.uk website. Retrieved 13 April 2008.</ref> The proceeds went to the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home.<ref>[http://www.irhh.org Iain Rennie Hospice at Home]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054558/http://www.irhh.org/ |date=4 March 2016 }}, Marathon proceeds recipient: [[Justgiving]].com website. Retrieved 13 April 2008.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/ref/40880_POLL_Graham.html Profile on FIFA World Cup 2006 site]
* {{Soccerbase referee|167}} ([https://www.soccerbase.com/referees/referee.sd?referee_id=167 archive] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118222424/http://www.soccerbase.com/refs2.sd?refid=167 |date=2007-11-18}})
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071213040319/http://epltalk.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=253963 Graham Poll interview] (archived)
* {{WorldFootball.net referee}}
* {{EU-Football.info referee}}

{{s-start}}
 {{succession box
 |title=[[UEFA Europa League|UEFA Cup]] Final referee
 |before={{flagicon|ITA}} [[Pierluigi Collina]] 
 |after={{flagicon|GER}} [[Herbert Fandel]] 
|years=[[2005 UEFA Cup Final|2005]]}}
{{succession box|title=[[FA Charity Shield]] referee|before=[[Peter Jones (referee)|Peter Jones]] |after=[[Graham Barber]] |years=[[1998 FA Charity Shield|1998]]}}
{{succession box|title=[[FA Cup Final referees|FA Cup Final referee]]|before=[[Peter Jones (referee)|Peter Jones]] |after=[[Steve Dunn (referee)|Steve Dunn]] ||years=[[2000 FA Cup Final|2000]]}}
{{succession box|title=[[Football League Cup]] Final referee|before=[[David Elleray]] |after=[[Paul Durkin]] |years=[[2002 Football League Cup Final|2002]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{UEFA Euro 2000 referees}}
{{Referees 2002 World Cup}}
{{Referees 2006 World Cup}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poll, Graham}}
[[Category:Daily Mail journalists]]
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Hitchin]]
[[Category:People from Tring]]
[[Category:English football referees]]
[[Category:Premier League referees]]
[[Category:UEFA Champions League referees]]
[[Category:2006 FIFA World Cup referees]]
[[Category:FA Cup final referees]]
[[Category:2002 FIFA World Cup referees]]
[[Category:UEFA Euro 2000 referees]]