Phil Dowd has been appointed to referee next month's FA Cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool at Wembley.

Official 'honoured and privileged' to have been appointed

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Phil Dowd has been appointed to referee next month's FA Cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool at Wembley. The 49-year-old has previously taken charge of the 2010 Carling Cup final and this season's Community Shield, and was fourth official at the 2006 FA Cup final. He is delighted to have been awarded the 5th May showpiece and will be fulfilling a dream by officiating the match. "I was honoured and privileged when I found out," Dowd told the FA's"You obviously hope as a referee that you might one day be considered for the FA Cup final so it will certainly be the highlight of my career so far. "I would never have thought in my wildest dreams that when I first started refereeing [in 1984] that one day I'd be refereeing the FA Cup final. Watching the final as a boy was something I always loved to do." David Elleray, FA Referees' Committee Chairman, said: "I would like to congratulate Phil and the team on their appointments for this year's FA Cup final, which is fully deserved. "It is a huge honour to be selected as a match official for what remains the world's most famous and best-loved cup competition and I am sure Phil and the others will be really looking forward to both the build-up to the final and walking out onto the Wembley pitch on 5 May." Dowd's assistants for the final will be Stuart Burt and Andrew Garratt, while Michael Jones is the fourth official and Simon Long is the reserve assistant referee. Liverpool booked their spot in the final by beating Merseyside rivals Everton 2-1 on Saturday and, the following day, Chelsea thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 5-1.