BREAKING NEWS Anthony Taylor admits he considered quitting refereeing as he addresses Chelsea v Liverpool decision 

nthony Taylor has been speaking about the pressures of refereeing and in different interviews incidents that happened i

Anthony Taylor has admitted there have been times he has considered quitting refereeing because of the constant barrage of abuse. And he has revealed his family no longer attend high-profile matches after he was harassed by Roma fans at an airport.

In an interview with BBC Sport, Taylor reflected on the “archaic” culture that he feels surrounds the game.

Taylor has twice taken charge of the FA Cup final, in 2017 and 2020, and been on the FIFA referees’ list for more than a decade. Having been selected as one of six English officials for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the 46-yeare-old was subsequently appointed for the 2023 Europa League final between Sevilla and Roma in Budapest.

Taylor was asked if he had ever considered quitting refereeing.

“There’s certainly been moments – and I won’t be alone in this – there’s certainly been moments where you are thinking, ‘Is it worth it?’,” he said.

“And certainly, moments where you’re thinking, ‘What’s being said is completely unfair’.”

Taylor continued: “We have this archaic psychological tactic of ‘let’s bombard the ref or bombard the fourth official with the hope of getting a decision out of it’.”

After the 2023 Europa League final, video footage emerged of the incident involving Taylor at Budapest Airport. A chair and drinks were thrown in the direction of the English referee and his group as they made their way through a gathering of Roma fans before being ushered to a safe area by airport security.

Taylor revealed his family now no longer attend big matches.

“That’s for sure the worst situation I’ve dealt with in terms of abuse,” he said.

“Not only because I was travelling with family members at the time, but it also highlights the impact of people’s behaviour on others.

“It makes you reflect back on whether you made a mistake travelling with your family in the first place.”

Asked whether that means his family no longer go to the high-profile games, Taylor said: “Yeah very much so – they haven’t been to one since.”

Taylor also spoke to The Times and discussed the reaction to a decision in Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat at Chelsea, whose manager Enzo Maresca was shown a second yellow card after racing down the touchline to celebrate Estevao’s injury-time winner.

“I’m not particularly delighted at having to send him off for a second yellow card but people are choosing to ignore that, two years ago, every Premier League club signed up to the charter,” he said, refereeing to the Premier League’s Participant Behaviour Charter, which Maresca transgressed.

In the same interview, Taylor also spoke about the incident in Liverpool’s 4-2 over Bournemouth on the opening night of the 2025-26 Premier League season when he was forced to stop the game after Antoine Semenyo reported being racially abused.

“We have clear guidance to follow but the most important thing is the alleged victim. Antoine had to be the focus of everything you do,” said Taylor, who agreed to the interview because Friday is World Mental Health Day.

“The most important thing is the player feels he’s been listened to and something’s been done and I think at the end of the night, once we’d spoken to him and his manager and police, he left the stadium feeling it had been dealt with.