Tyrone referee Sean Hurson will be the man in charge when Kerry and Galway go head-to-head in the 2022 All-Ireland SFC final in Croke Park on Sunday, July 24.
The GAA confirmed the team of match officials for the decider with Roscommon’s Paddy Neilan (standby referee) and Barry Cassidy of Derry on the line while Sean Laverty from Antrim will be the sideline official.
It will be the first time that Hurson, widely regarded as one of the top referees in the game, has taken charge of a senior inter-county final.
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The Galbally native took charge of the All-Ireland Club Senior Football Championship decider back in February when Kilcoo defeated Kilmacud Crokes and he was also the referee for the 2018 All-Ireland minor final and last season’s All-Ireland U20 final.
Hurson was also the referee for this year’s Ulster final when Derry defeated Donegal after extra-time in Clones and he was also in charge when Dublin beat Cork in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final in Croke Park.
Hurson’s team of umpires on the day will be Mark Coney (Ardboe), Mel Taggart (Clonoe), Cathal Forbes (Ardboe) and Martin Conway (Moortown).
It is the second successive year that an Ulster referee will take charge of the All-Ireland final after Cavan’s Joe McQuillan refereed Tyrone’s win over Mayo last September while Hurson is the first Tyrone man to referee an All-Ireland final since Paddy Devlin took charge of the 1974 final between Dublin and Galway.
Kerry and Galway are meeting in the All-Ireland final for the first time since 2000 when the Kingdom claimed a four-point victory.
The Tribesmen succeeded Kerry as champions the following year when they became the first team to win Sam Maguire via the Qualifiers in what was the first season of the ‘back-door’ system.
That was also the last time Galway won the senior All-Ireland while Kerry’s last success was in 2014 when they defeated Donegal in the final.
Galway manager Pádraic Joyce, who was a vital member of the 2001 squad, vowed he’d take his side to an All-Ireland final and he delivered on that promise then the Connacht champions defeated Ulster champions Derry by five points in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final.
Kerry needed an injury-time winner from Seán O’Shea to defeat Dublin in a thrilling last four clash in Croke Park.
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