Chelsea vs Liverpool referee considered quitting after terrifying family abuse

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Liverpool.com or go back to LFC Live.

The official, who took charge of Liverpool's defeat to Chelsea, has also disclosed that his family no longer attend high-profile fixtures following harassment from Roma supporters at an airport. Though regarded as amongst the Premier League's top referees, Taylor feels he and fellow match officials have become convenient scapegoats, with condemnation surfacing once more after Chelsea's dramatic injury-time victory over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge last weekend.

"There's certainly been moments – and I won't be alone in this – there's certainly been moments where you are thinking, 'Is it worth it?'," he said. "And certainly, moments where you're thinking, 'What's being said is completely unfair'." Taylor went on to say: "We have this archaic psychological tactic of 'let's bombard the ref or bombard the fourth official with the hope of getting a decision out of it'." Following the 2023 Europa League final, video footage surfaced showing an incident involving Taylor at Budapest Airport.

During the same interview, Taylor also discussed the incident in Liverpool's 4-2 victory over Bournemouth on the opening night of the 2025-26 Premier League season when he was compelled to halt the match after Antoine Semenyo reported suffering racial abuse. "The most important thing is the player feels he's been listened to and something's been done and I think at the end of the night, once we'd spoken to him and his manager and police, he left the stadium feeling it had been dealt with.