A team of Premier League officials will today oversee the UEFA Youth League final for the first time, after Chris Kavanagh was appointed as the referee for the showpiece match.
Kavanagh and his assistant referees Dan Cook and Sian-Massey-Ellis, along with fourth official David Coote, will be in charge as Benfica's Under-19s take on Real Madrid's side from the same age group in Geneva on Tuesday.
“I was absolutely delighted to receive the appointment,” said Kavanagh. “It came as a shock but we were all buzzing to receive it.
“I think the highlight [of the season] is how well we’ve continued to grow as a team and learn from each game.
“The more games we do, the more we know how each other thinks. But also, we want to continue getting better, so we constantly challenge each other about incidents in the game.”
'Personal sacrifices'
Coote’s pride was evident as he said: “Only close friends and family really know the impact of refereeing to your life over many years, with personal sacrifices being made in order to dedicate our time to football - going out training, often alone, and pushing yourself, and completing performance analysis.
“An appointment of this nature, and the experience of being part of a UEFA final, is the reward for the hard work over this time.”
Massey-Ellis continues to be an inspiration for thousands of women and girls with her standing within both the men’s and women’s game.
“It’s a huge honour to receive the appointment,” she said. “I had to have a little sit down to take it all in!
“I’m really proud of it, hopefully showing that hard work and dedication pays off and that all people can achieve their dreams.”
Homework
After the initial excitement of their appointment, Kavanagh and his team are now focusing on the job in hand and going through their usual pre-match processes.
“I don’t think I will really change anything,” said Cook. “We’ll do some homework on the teams and their previous games, we’ll get some rest in preparation and then prepare in my normal way that I do for every game.”
After the UEFA Youth League final, the attentions of Kavanagh, Cook, Massey-Ellis and Coote will turn to the opening weekend of the Premier League season, kicking off on Saturday 12 September.
