Premier League news with information on Andrew Madley’s favourite club, net worth, how his brother impacted his career, and the backlash he faced over the FA Cup
English International referee Andrew ‘Andy’ Madley is one of the most well-recognised referees in English football. After a long journey starting in 2008, he officiated his first top-flight game 10 years later, a 2-2 draw between Watford and Bournemouth, and has been a mainstay ever since.
Madley started his career as an official at a very young age. He began his refereeing career in the lower leagues before gradually working his way up to the Premier League, where he now officiates high-profile matches.
His younger brother, Robert ‘Bobby’ Madley is also a referee from the Select Group of Referees. Andy has previously explained that his brother was the reason he got into officiating football matches.
The Select Group 2 referee welcomed Madley in 2016/17 as he climbed the ranks in no time. He has officiated some significant games like the FA Cup final between Manchester United and Manchester City in 2024 and the EFL League One play-off final in 2019 as well.
Here, Mirror Sport has details on the referee.
What team does Andy Madley support?
Beyond their professional duties, even referees often have football clubs that they support in their personal capacity. To avoid conflict of interest, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) all referees are to declare their club allegiance to the governing body.
Madley supports his hometown club Huddersfield Town as per FourFourTwo. He does not officiate any Huddersfield Town games to remain neutral, per PGMOL policy.
Not breaching the conflict of interest has been made easier for Madley with Huddersfield Town not playing in the Premier League since 2019. With their relegation to League One in 2024, it could be some time before they return to the top tier of English football.
Andy Madley net worth and personal Life
No publicly disclosed figure denotes Madley’s net worth as of now. However, a substantial amount of his wealth is derived from his salary as an official, having overseen his first domestic game over a decade ago.
The top-tier Premier League referees make between £73,000 and £147,000 annually, according to FourFourTwo. With his consistent role in high-profile games for a significant amount of years.
Madley grew up in Huddersfield, Yorkshire and describes his interest in refereeing as an ‘accident.’ Talking to West Riding FA about the incident from his childhood that got him involved, Madley said: “I got into Refereeing purely by accident! Both Bobby and I played at a decent level as kids.
“I had been playing for Huddersfield Town School of Excellence as it was then, whilst Bobby was at Barnsley. We both got injured around the same time and started to not enjoy our football.
“One night, Bobby rang me saying ‘Andy, I’ve seen this course, do you fancy it?’ I asked what it was and he replied: ‘Refereeing!’ I answered, ‘Nope!’ and hung up!
“Long story short, I ended up going along to Altofts Cricket Club and completing the course instructed by Graham Rowett and Pete Oldroyd, starting on the Wakefield Saturday and Sunday Leagues.
“I have to admit, I didn’t enjoy it to begin with, but it was a great way to pay my way through University! Interestingly, my first ever game as a qualified Referee, I refereed Oli Johnson, 11 at the time, who would go on to play for Stockport County and Norwich City in the EFL.”
Andy Madley referee controversies
Following some controversial decisions in the FA Cup game in January 2025 between Arsenal and Manchester United, Madley found himself at the centre of great attention. During the game, Diogo Dalot was shown a second yellow in the second half of the game leaving United with 10 men for the rest of the match.
Later on, United defender Harry Maguire was judged to have fouled Kai Havertz in the box, and Madley gave Arsenal a penalty. Numerous people criticised the ruling, claiming that there was little touch. Since it was the first round of the FA Cup, VAR was not used to review the decision.
With more than one contentious decision in the aftermath of this high-stake clash, pundits and fans were discussing the inconsistency and a possible suspension. This sequence also reignited the discussion for VAR in all rounds of major competitions to assist the referees in critical situations.
