Liverpool and Everton face a season of inexperienced referees in the Premier League after Kevin Friend retired on Tuesday.
Friend was in charge of Liverpool's fixture against Crystal Palace last season which saw him award Diogo Jota a controversial penalty, the Reds went on to win 3-1. His performance that day saw him dropped from the following week's Premier League schedule.
At 50, Friend is the youngest referee to leave game this summer alongside Mike Dean, 54; Jon Moss, 51; and Martin Atkinson, 51. Step 2 referee Tom Bramall will officiate games in the top-flight this season but is the only man in the middle to get the call up. Last summer saw John Brooks, Jarred Gillett, Tony Harrington and Michael Salisbury make the move from Step 2 to Step 1.
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Brooks, Harrington and Salisbury were barely handed many games last season but 12 months on they may be thrown in the deep end alongside Bramall and Gillett as The Telegraph report the flurry of retirements has caused a 'shortfall of experienced referees'.
With games being plagued by decisions that cause plenty of discussion after the game and VAR still causing it's own issues, the last thing either club needs is games being decided by a bad call by a referee new to the division due to a large number of unexpected retirements.
