{{short description|English football referee (born 1971)}} {{Use British English|date=September 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox football official | name = Kevin Friend | image = {{Infobox football official | name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Bristol, England <ref> {{cite news|title=Football: Leicester referee Kevin Friend can't wait to blow whistle on Capital One Cup final|url=http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Football-Leicester-referee-Kevin-Friend-t-wait/story-18220794-detail/story.html#axzz2LYPQvCGZ|publisher=This is Leicestershire|date=22 February 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224105557/http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Football-Leicester-referee-Kevin-Friend-t-wait/story-18220794-detail/story.html#axzz2LYPQvCGZ|archive-date=24 February 2013}}</ref> }} | caption = | fullname = Kevin Friend | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1971|7|8}} | birth_place = [[Bristol]], England<ref> {{cite news|title=Football: Leicester referee Kevin Friend can't wait to blow whistle on Capital One Cup final|url=http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Football-Leicester-referee-Kevin-Friend-t-wait/story-18220794-detail/story.html#axzz2LYPQvCGZ|publisher=This is Leicestershire|date=22 February 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224105557/http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Football-Leicester-referee-Kevin-Friend-t-wait/story-18220794-detail/story.html#axzz2LYPQvCGZ|archive-date=24 February 2013}}</ref> | role1 = Referee | years1 = 2003–2022 | role2 = Referee | years2 = }}
'''Kevin Friend''' (born 8 July 1971)<ref name="flprofile">[http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk/page/RefereeProfilesDetail/0,,10794~628215,00.html Birthdate] confirmation at [[the Football League]] official website. Retrieved on 26 March 2008. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828021214/http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk/page/RefereeProfilesDetail/0,,10794~628215,00.html |date=28 August 2008 }}</ref> is a former professional [[Association football|football]] [[Referee (association football)|referee]] based in [[Leicester]]. He is a member of the [[Leicestershire and Rutland County Football Association]].
His most notable appointments have been to referee the [[2012 FA Community Shield|2012 Community Shield]], played at [[Villa Park]], the [[2013 Football League Cup final|2013 League Cup final]] which was held at [[Wembley Stadium]], and the [[2019 FA Cup final]] which was also held at Wembley.
==Career== Friend started refereeing at the age of 14 in his home county of Leicestershire. He officiated in the [[Leicestershire Senior League]] and [[Midland Football Alliance]] before being promoted to the National List of Referees, and later to the Select Group of Referees ahead of the [[2009–10 in English football|2009–10 season]]. His first Premier League fixture was on 20 September 2009: a 2–1 victory for [[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolverhampton Wanderers]] over [[Fulham F.C.|Fulham]]; Friend showed two yellow cards during his debut appointment in England's top-flight.
Friend issued his first Premier League red card on 15 December 2009 to [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]] captain [[Lorik Cana]] for a second bookable offence in his team's 2–0 defeat to [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]].
He refereed the 2009 [[FA Vase]] final at [[Wembley Stadium]] on 10 May between [[Whitley Bay F.C.|Whitley Bay]] and [[Glossop North End A.F.C.|Glossop North End]], won 2–0 by the Bay.
During a [[Football League One]] match in 2010 between [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]] and [[Milton Keynes Dons F.C.|Milton Keynes Dons]] Friend issued 11 yellow cards, including two to Dons player [[Aaron Wilbraham]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/football_league/article7094365.ece |title=The Times & The Sunday Times |publisher=Timesonline.co.uk |date=1919-08-19 |access-date=2019-08-19}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
Friend showed a red card to [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]] defender [[Wes Brown]] in a 2013 Premier League match against Stoke City, which the FA later rescinded.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/25072028|title=BBC Sport — Stoke v Sunderland: Gus Poyet wants apology after red card|publisher=BBC Sport|access-date=30 August 2015|archive-date=11 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311015043/http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25072028|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/24969017|title=BBC Sport — Stoke City 2-0 Sunderland|author=Owen Phillips|publisher=BBC Sport|access-date=30 August 2015|archive-date=30 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141130233927/http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24969017|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2016, Friend was controversially prevented from officiating a [[Premier League]] match between [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]] and title contenders [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]], due to him being a supporter of fellow title challengers [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36042805|title=Kevin Friend: Leicester-based referee taken off Tottenham game|date=14 April 2016|access-date=19 August 2019|publisher=BBC}}</ref>
At the end of the [[2021–22 in English football|2021–22]] season, Friend retired from officiating, but will continue to work for PGMOL as manager of the Select Group 2 referees.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wallace |first=Sam |date=21 June 2022 |title=Exclusive: Premier League facing shortfall of experienced referees as Kevin Friend steps down |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/06/21/exclusive-premier-league-facing-shortfall-experienced-referees/ |access-date=7 September 2022 |website=The Telegraph}}</ref> ===2012 FA Community Shield=== On 3 July 2012, it was announced that Friend would referee the [[2012 FA Community Shield]], played on 12 August at [[Villa Park]].<ref>{{cite news|title=A Friend in me|url=http://www.thefa.com/Competitions/FACompetitions/TheFACommunityShield/FAMatchCentre/2012/chelsea-manchester-city/previews/villa-park-kevin-friend-referee.aspx|publisher=The FA.com|date=12 August 2012|archive-date=8 July 2012|access-date=3 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708224953/http://www.thefa.com/Competitions/FACompetitions/TheFACommunityShield/FAMatchCentre/2012/chelsea-manchester-city/previews/villa-park-kevin-friend-referee.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> His assistants were Michael McDonough and Richard West, and [[Anthony Taylor (referee)|Anthony Taylor]] was the fourth official.
[[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] were defeated 3–2 by [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]]. [[Branislav Ivanović]] was sent off for the Blues for a high challenge towards the end of the first half. Ivanović did not serve any subsequent suspension, however, after FA rule changes regarding pre-season fixtures.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ivanovic spared suspension for Community Shield red|url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/ivanovic-spared-suspension-community-shield-red-090956763.html|publisher=Yahoo! Europsort|date=13 August 2012|archive-date=16 August 2012|access-date=13 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120816231520/http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/ivanovic-spared-suspension-community-shield-red-090956763.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
===2013 League Cup final=== Friend refereed the [[2013 Football League Cup final|2013 League Cup final]] at [[Wembley Stadium]] on 24 February. The match was contested by [[EFL League Two|League 2]]'s [[Bradford City A.F.C.|Bradford City]] and [[Premier League]] [[Swansea City A.F.C.|Swansea City]].
Swansea won the final 5–0.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://espnfc.com/uk/en/report/359954/report.html?soccernet=true&cc=5739|title= Bantams battered by Swans|date= 25 February 2013|publisher= ESPN|access-date= 26 February 2013|archive-date= 27 February 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130227021112/http://espnfc.com/uk/en/report/359954/report.html?soccernet=true&cc=5739|url-status= live}}</ref> An incident early in the second-half, when the Premier League side were already 3–0 up, saw Friend adjudge Bradford goalkeeper [[Matt Duke]] to have committed a [[professional foul]]. The official dismissed Duke and awarded Swansea a [[Penalty kick (association football)|penalty kick]], which was converted by [[Jonathan de Guzmán]]; he also scored again in the 90th minute. The other Swansea goals came courtesy of [[Nathan Dyer]] (2) and [[Michu]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Bradford 0 – 5 Swansea|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/21489673|publisher=BBC Sport|date=24 February 2013|archive-date=22 January 2016|access-date=14 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122051138/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21489673|url-status=live}}</ref>
===2019 FA Cup final=== Friend refereed the [[2019 FA Cup final]] at [[Wembley Stadium]] on 18 May 2019. The match was contested between [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]] and [[Watford F.C.|Watford]], with Manchester City winning the match 6–0.
==Statistics== {| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" |- !Season!!Games!!Total {{yel}}!!{{yel}} per game!!Total {{sent off}}!!{{sent off}} per game |- |[[2003–04 in English football|2003–04]]||27||98||''3.63''||4||''0.15'' |- |[[2004–05 in English football|2004–05]]||37||107||''2.89''||7||''0.19'' |- |[[2005–06 in English football|2005–06]]||21||45||''2.14''||2||''0.09'' |- |[[2006–07 in English football|2006–07]]||34||87||''2.56''||6||''0.18'' |- |[[2007–08 in English football|2007–08]]||41||100||''2.44''||11||''0.27'' |- |[[2008–09 in English football|2008–09]]||46||124||''2.69''||6||''0.13'' |- |[[2009–10 in English football|2009–10]]||34||133||''3.91''||7||''0.21'' |- |[[2010–11 in English football|2010–11]]||33||116||''3.52''||7||''0.21'' |- |[[2011–12 in English football|2011–12]]||33||120||''3.64''||3||''0.09'' |- |[[2012–13 in English football|2012–13]]||34||120||''3.53''||3||''0.09'' |- |[[2013–14 in English football|2013–14]]||31||98||''3.16''||1||''0.03'' |- |[[2014–15 in English football|2014–15]]||35||141||''4.03''||5||''0.14'' |- |[[2015–16 in English football|2015–16]]||31||100||''3.23''||6||''0.06'' |- |[[2016–17 in English football|2016–17]]||32||127||''3.97''||2||''0.06'' |- |[[2017–18 in English football|2017–18]]||33||66||''2.00''||1||''0.03'' |- |[[2018–19 in English football|2018–19]]||39||139||''3.56''||3||''0.08'' |- |[[2019–20 in English football|2019–20]] |33 |89 |''2.70'' |8 |''0.24'' |- |[[2020–21 in English football|2020–21]] |31 |74 |''2.39'' |3 |''0.10'' |- |[[2021–22 in English football|2021–22]] |28 |109 |''3.89'' |2 |''0.07'' |} <small>Statistics are for all competitions as of 18 May 2019. No records are available prior to 2003–04.</small><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soccerbase.com/referees/referee.sd?referee_id=865|title=Kevin Friend- Latest Football Betting Odds – Soccer Base}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110913233139/http://refworld.com/referee/136/0/kevin-friend Kevin Friend Profile] at Refworld.com *[https://www.soccerbase.com/referees/referee.sd?referee_id=865&season_id=139 ] at [[Soccerbase]].com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friend, Kevin}} [[Category:English football referees]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:1971 births]] [[Category:Sportspeople from Bristol]] [[Category:People from Leicester]] [[Category:English Football League referees]] [[Category:Premier League referees]] [[Category:FA Cup final referees]]