Paul Tierney Confirmed As Referee For FA Cup Final Between Manchester Rivals City and United

Referee Paul Tierney has been confirmed as the man who will take charge of this season's FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United on June 3.

Referee Paul Tierney has been confirmed as the man who will take charge of this season's FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United on June 3.

The 42-year-old has refereed two games at Wembley before - the 2019 EFL Championship play-off final and the 2021 EFL Cup final.

But he has never previously been the referee in a Manchester derby.

"Obviously, I was really pleased to get the call on Monday morning, so it was a good start to the week as I was on my way to a training camp at St. George's Park," Tierney told the FA.com.

"To referee the FA Cup final is one of those things that you strive to do and it's always been one of my targets but it still takes a bit of time to sink in.

"It's a real honor for me and the rest of the team, and we're all thrilled to have been appointed for this game."

That team will include Neil Davies and Scott Ledger as assistant referees, plus Peter Bankes as the fourth official.

David Coote will be the VAR, with Simon Long appointed as assistant VAR.

Referee Paul Tierney will take charge of the 2023 FA Cup final on June 3 :: IMAGO/PA Images/Ben Whitley

Tierney lives in Wigan, which is just 23 miles from Manchester, but he is originally from Northern Ireland.

Looking forward to his first Manchester derby, he said: "It's a great fixture to be refereeing and although there is the common assumption that because I'm from Wigan I must support one of them, I was actually born in Belfast and only moved to Wigan when I was eleven."

Tierney was in the news for another reason this week.

Jurgen Klopp was fined £75,000 on Thursday and hit with a two-game touchline ban as a consequence of comments he made about Tierney after Liverpool's 4-3 win over Tottenham in April.

Liverpool manager Klopp had suggested after the match that Tierney had "something against" him and his team.

Klopp later said that he regretted making the comments.