{{short description|English football referee (born 1970)}} {{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}} {{Infobox football official | name = Jonathan Moss | fullname = Jonathan Moss | image = Jonathan Moss ref.jpg | caption = Moss in 2014 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1970|10|18}} | birth_place = Sunderland, County Durham, England | death_date = | death_place = | otheroccupation = PE teacher, Record shop owner<ref>{{cite web |title=Manchester United v West Ham United - All You Need To Know |url=https://www.whufc.com/news/manchester-united-v-west-ham-united-all-you-need-know |publisher=West Ham United F.C. |date=21 January 2022 |access-date=9 November 2022}}</ref> | years1 = 1999–2005 | league1 = Northern Counties East/Northern Premier League | role1 = Referee | years2 = 2003–2005 | league2 = The Football League | role2 = Assistant referee | years3 = 2005–2022 | league3 = The Football League | role3 = Referee | years4 = 2011–2022 | league4 = Premier League | role4 = Referee | years5 = | league5 = | role5 = | internationalyears1 = | confederation1 = | internationalrole1 = }}

'''Jonathan Moss''' (born 18 October 1970) is an English former<ref>{{cite web |last=Hurley |first=Lee |date=22 May 2022 |title=Martin Atkinson and Jon Moss to retire with Mike Dean |url=https://dailycannon.com/2022/05/atkinson-moss-dean/ |access-date=30 May 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref> professional football referee who officiated primarily in the Premier League having been promoted to the Select Group of Referees in 2011. After his retirement, Moss became Select Group 1 Manager however left the role in March 2024.

He was born in Sunderland but is now based in Horsforth, West Yorkshire. He is a member of the West Riding County Football Association.

==Career== Born in Sunderland, Moss grew up as a keen footballer and won a football scholarship at Central Connecticut State University in the United States but completed his studies with a degree in teaching and physical education at the University of Leeds.<ref>{{cite web|title=Men in Black – Jon Moss|url=http://www.football-league.co.uk/interviews/20110324/men-in-black-jon-moss-_2293411_2323293|website=The Football League|access-date=30 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929000638/http://www.football-league.co.uk/interviews/20110324/men-in-black-jon-moss-_2293411_2323293|archive-date=29 September 2012}}</ref> He played junior football at academy level, firstly for his hometown club Sunderland and then for Millwall, but stopped doing so when travel to the London club interfered with his studies.

Moss began taking refereeing courses as part of his A-level physical education studies. Although he qualified as a referee in 1988 he did not fully focus on his refereeing until he stopped playing football in 1999.<ref>{{cite news |title=Man in Black |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/content/articles/2006/02/14/jnrft_ref_01_feature.shtml |publisher=BBC |date=15 February 2006 |access-date=23 January 2011}}</ref> Moss was employed by the Westbrook Lane Primary School in Leeds as a physical education teacher, where he taught future Premier League midfielder James Milner; Milner was later shown a red card by Moss in a Premier League match in 2019.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sanghera |first=Mandeep |title=James Milner: Liverpool player sent off by his former PE teacher Jon Moss |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/46946865 |publisher=BBC Sport |date=21 January 2019 |access-date=21 January 2019}}</ref>

After progressing through the Northern Counties East League and Northern Premier League, Moss was promoted to the National Group of assistant referees in 2003. He was appointed to referee the 2005 Conference play-off final between Carlisle United and Stevenage Borough. He was then promoted to the National Group of Referees who officiate in the Football League; his first game was between Shrewsbury and Rochdale.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jon Moss |url=http://refworld.com/referee/155/1/jon-moss}} {{registration required}}</ref>

Moss became a regular official in the Football League and was appointed to a Premier League contest in December 2010 between Wigan Athletic and Aston Villa, however it was postponed due to heavy snow. He was later appointed to Birmingham City's visit to Blackpool in January 2011.<ref>{{cite news |title=Blackpool 1–2 Birmingham City |url=http://www.football.co.uk/match_reports/blackpool_birmingham_city_3111083.shtml |publisher=Digital Sports Group |date=4 January 2011 |access-date=23 January 2011}}</ref> Moss had been promoted to the list of Select Group Referees, who officiate all Premier League matches, for the 2011–12 season alongside fellow newly promoted referee Neil Swarbrick. He was the referee for the 2015 FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Aston Villa.<ref>{{cite news |last=Callow |first=James |title=Jon Moss will referee the 2015 FA Cup Final at Wembley |url=http://www.thefa.com/news/the-fa-cup/2015/apr/jon-moss-cup-final-interview-210415 |publisher=The FA |date=21 April 2015 |access-date=21 April 2015}}</ref>

On 17 April 2016, following a 2–2 draw between Leicester City and West Ham United,<ref>{{cite news |title=Leicester City 2-2 West Ham United |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36008563 |publisher=BBC Sport}}</ref> Moss' refereeing decisions during the match were heavily scrutinised, with Alan Shearer noting the "inconsistencies were mind-boggling".<ref>{{cite news |title='The referee realised he messed up' |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36068462 |publisher=BBC Sport}}</ref> On 4 February 2018, Moss drew criticism for his refereeing decisions in a Premier League match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, which ended in a 2–2 draw.<ref>{{cite news |title=Liverpool 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/42849447 |publisher=BBC Sport}}</ref> Moss was seen on camera asking fourth official Martin Atkinson if there was "anything from TV", even though VAR was not in operation, before he decided to award Tottenham a penalty. During stoppage time, Moss consulted with assistant referee Eddie Smart to clarify if Harry Kane had been offside before awarding Tottenham another penalty. The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) admitted that Moss was "misguided" to ask the fourth official for help using television when awarding Tottenham's first penalty, but defended his decisions.<ref>{{cite news |title=Moss 'misguided' in penalty decision |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/42943628 |publisher=BBC Sport |date=6 February 2018 |access-date=30 August 2023}}</ref>

Moss retired from refereeing at the end of the 2021–22 season, and took up a new role of Select Group 1 Manager at the PGMOL which he held until his departure in March 2024.

===Statistics=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !Season!!Games!!Total {{yel}}!!{{yel}} per game!!Total {{sent off}}!!{{sent off}} per game |- |2005–06||31||108||''3.48''||8||''0.26'' |- |2006–07||40||99||''2.48''||9||''0.23'' |- |2007–08||38||106||''2.79''||7||''0.18'' |- |2008–09||39||106||''2.72''||7||''0.18'' |- |2009–10||37||121||''3.27''||8||''0.22'' |- |2010–11||42||87||''2.07''||10||''0.24'' |- |2011–12||32||112||''3.50''||11||''0.34'' |- |2012–13||31||86||''2.77''||1||''0.03'' |- |2013–14||35||105||''3.00''||4||''0.11'' |- |2014–15||37||142||''3.83''||9||''0.24'' |- |2015–16 |33 |97 |''2.94'' |7 |''0.22'' |- |2016–17 |37 |141 |''3.81'' |3 |''0.08'' |- |2017–18 |35 |125 |''3.57'' |4 |''0.11'' |- |2018–19 |36 |128 |''3.56'' |7 |''0.20'' |- |2019–20 |32 |102 |''3.19'' |3 |''0.09'' |- |2020–21 |32 |82 |''2.56'' |2 |''0.06'' |- |2021–22 |31 |75 |''2.42'' |4 |''0.13'' |} <small>Statistics are for all competitions. No records are available prior to 2005–06.</small><ref>{{cite web|title=Jonathan Moss|url=http://www.soccerbase.com/referees/referee.sd?referee_id=986|website=soccerbase.com|access-date=31 May 2015}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://refworld.com/referee/155/1 Refworld Profile]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Jon}} Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:English football referees Category:Sportspeople from Sunderland Category:People from Horsforth Category:Sportspeople from the City of Leeds Category:FA Cup final referees Category:Premier League referees Category:Schoolteachers from Yorkshire Category:20th-century English educators Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds Category:English Football League referees