Born on 1 January 1971 in Birmingham, Andre Marriner started his refereeing career in England’s amateur leagues in the ‘90s.

In 2000 he began featuring as assistant referee in Championship matches and, four years later, he officiated his first Premier League encounter. Since then he has been assigned games of the top flight league non-stop. He is also the holder of a historic record. In April 2011, in an Arsenal-Liverpool clash, Marriner awarded a penalty to the Gunners deep into stoppage time, in minute 97. Arsenal took the lead (1-0), but five minutes later, in the 102nd minute (still in regulation time), the visitors equalized also from the spot!

The Englishman is no stranger to the “Two-Headed Eagle”. Thursday’s encounter will be his third in Toumba Stadium. He was assigned PAOK’s match against PFC CSKA Moscow in February 2011 for the UEFA Europa League last “32” stage, with the Russian outfit prevailing 1-0. In the summer of 2012, he refereed the UEL qualifier between PAOK and SK Rapid Wien (2-1 for the Thessaloniki side). Marriner has also handled three Panathinaikos’s games, two in Athens and one away.

The 45-year old will be accompanied by Simon Beck and Harry Lennard, the assistant referees, with Edward Smart acting as fourth official. Kevin Friend and Robert Madley complete the team as additional assistant referees. Kuanysh Kanapyanov (Kazakhstan) be the UEFA Delegate for this encounter and Hervé Piccirillo (France) the UEFA Referee Observer.