Michelle O'Neill (referee)

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Michelle O'Neill
some football referees lead some mascots through a tunnel at a big club football match
O'Neill (right) assisting at 2019 UEFA Super Cup
Born (1978-07-20) 20 July 1978 (age 45)
County Wexford
NationalityIreland
OccupationFootball assistant/referee
Years active2001 -

Michelle O'Neill (born 20 July 1978 in

Women's Football World Cup and, as part of an all-female team, for the 2019 UEFA Super Cup
.

Biography

After playing for the

refereeing. Quickly revealing her talents at local level, she joined the Football Association of Ireland Referee School of Excellence.[3] Arriving at the high level, she refereed the League of Ireland Women's Premier Division then was chosen as an assistant referee for the League of Ireland and FAI Cup,[3] where she has officiated since 2013. [4]

From 2011, Michelle O'Neill has been an assistant referee in the UEFA Women's Champions League. In total, she refereed nine Champions League matches between 2011 and 2019.[5]

O'Neill began her career as an international match referee in 2013 with a 2015 World Cup qualifying match between the Netherlands and Albania,[6] running the line for six matches in these qualifications.

In 2015, O'Neill was appointed to be an assistant referee at the FIFA Women's World Cup hosted in Canada, the second Irish person to do so after Eddie Foley was an assistant referee during the 1998 FIFA World Cup.[7] During the World Cup she officiated at two matches.[8]

In 2016, O'Neill was called upon to referee a men's

Slavia Prague.[9]

It was in 2018, O'Neill was chosen to assist at the under-20's Women's World Cup in France, for North Korea versus England and China versus Nigeria. She was called for the second time to the Women's World Cup a year later,[10] covering four games alongside French referee Stéphanie Frappart,[11] with group ties Argentina versus Japan, and Netherlands against Canada, the quarter-final between Germany and Sweden, followed by the final, with the United States beating the Netherlands 2–0.[12][13] making O'Neill the first ever to officiate at a World Cup FINAL.

On 14 August 2019, O'Neill again assisted Frappart at the

Chelsea FC in at the Beşiktaş Stadium in Istanbul. This is the first time that a men's continental match of such magnitude has been refereed by a women's trio.[14] A few days earlier, on 9 August, as preparation, Michelle had joined the duo of French women to referee a Ligue 2 match between Guingamp and Orléans
.

Statistics

References

External links