Revealed: How a phone call from Jurgen Klopp helped change Premier League refereeing overnight

Former Premier League referee Jon Moss has explained how a phone call from former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp changed the way the game is officiated in the top flight.

The 54-year-old was a referee in the league for 11 years, having started his career in 1999, but retired in 2022 along with fellow veterans Mike Dean and Martin Atkinson.

He took some significant matches across this period including the 2015 FA Cup final between Arsenal and Aston Villa.

After he hung up his whistle, Moss joined a host of his former colleagues and remained at the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL), the body that oversees referees in the UK, becoming select group director. 

In this role, he joined Howard Webb in managing officials in the top flight but stepped down in March.

Moss has now revealed to The Athletic that he pushed through some key reforms as part of the Elite Referee Development Plan while he was working at the PGMOL, and one of them was down to a frustrated phone call from Klopp.

He revealed that his former adversary called him suggesting Andy Madley had been getting in the way of his forward Roberto Firmino

Ex Liverpool boss Klopp’s words influenced Moss’s hiring of more video analysts 

He described how a 2-2 draw between Fulham and Liverpool in the 2022-23 campaign went by without incident or at least that’s what Moss had thought.

Shortly after, while taking a walk near his home, the official picked up his phone when a number he did not recognise began buzzing through.

He said: ‘I picked it up, and there was that undeniable voice that (Klopp) has. He said he wanted to talk about the game on Saturday because he felt (Roberto) Firmino had barely touched the ball. He said, “Your referee kept getting in the way every time he was about to receive the ball. Every time he passed it, Andy Madley appeared like a ghost and slid into the pass”.

‘Andy was in the position that I expected him to be but that was no good for this style of play. That was a game changer for me overnight. So we sent it to the referee. We sent it to all the people that were observing the referees.

‘And that’s why, in that moment, we decided we needed analysts. Because the way we referee had to change. And we needed to have that kind of information.’

The exchange resulted in Moss pushing for more video analysts to look into the trends of players’ movements ahead of each game in order for the referees to avoid getting in the way. 

Now all Select Group 1 officials, who are fronted by the experienced Anthony Taylor and Michael Oliver, receive a pre-match analysis pack which explains how teams line up for corners and free kicks.

Moss has been Football Australia’s head of referees since October and he explained how the A-League is refreshingly willing to embrace change and innovation.

The 54-year-old was a Premier League referee for 11 years and moved to a role withing PGMOL

He claimed that VAR’s popularity might improve if referees communicated more with fans

The division explains decisions to the crowd via a PA system, an idea which was trialled by the Premier League in pre-season matches in Spain but did not receive sufficient backing.

The league is also considering introducing a system known as Football Video Support (FVS), an alternative to VAR, which gives teams two challenges per match.

He said the communication during games with supporters increases transparency and ensures fans do not feel that there is a ‘conspiracy’ among officials.

Moss suggests a similar scheme would be popular in the Premier League and might increase VAR’s popularity among supporters in the UK.