Career
He began refereeing in 1986, in local leagues. He was appointed to the assistant referees' lists of the Football League in 1993, and the Premier League in 1994.
In 1996 he was an assistant referee for the FA Cup Final at Wembley on 11 May, when Manchester United defeated Liverpool with a late Eric Cantona goal.
In the same year he became a FIFA assistant referee, officiating in that capacity during Euro '96 in England, notably in the group match on 9 June between Germany and the Czech Republic at Old Trafford, which Germany won 2-0.[5]
Walton was promoted to the Football League List of referees in 1998, despite a reported comment from the former Wimbledon manager Joe Kinnear that he was "too thick to become a referee".[6] At this point, he also stepped down from the FIFA assistant referees' list.
In 2003 he was added to the Select Group of referees, and was man-in-the-middle for the Football League (LDV Vans) Trophy Final between Bristol City and Carlisle United on 6 April, the 'Robins' triumphing 2-0.[7] He also refereed an (old) First Division play-off semi-final second leg[8] and an (old) Division Three play-off semi-final first leg[9] at the end of season 2002-03.
His first ever Premiership match in charge was the 4-3 home win by Wolverhampton Wanderers over Leicester City at Molineux on 25 October 2003.[10]
At the end of January 2007, Walton accompanied Regional Referees' Manager Ray Olivier (a Football League referee himself) to Guayaquil, Ecuador, in order to carry out an "Advanced Course for Referees' Instructors" on behalf of the FA and Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol.[11] Olivier is quoted as saying: "It is also a great fillip to have someone of Peter’s calibre as part of the team and his experience of refereeing in the Premiership is invaluable to those referees taking part in this workshop."[12]
Walton is also the referees' representative within Prospect, the trades union which began speaking for Premier League referees as from February 2007.[13]
For most of the 2006-07 season, the caption writer on BBC's "Match of the Day" football programme had introduced Peter Walton as "Referee - Paul Walton" - a glaring error. He finally corrected the information for the 28 April 2007 edition.[14]
On 20 October 2007, the Match of the Day caption writer once again mistook Peter for Paul.[14]
Walton refereed the FA Community Shield between Manchester United and Portsmouth on Sunday 10 August 2008
Walton refereed Tottenham Hotspur's massive 9-1 victory over Wigan in the Premier league in November 2009.
Walton was the referee on 27 February 2010, when Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey suffered a broken leg after a tackle by Stoke's Ryan Shawcross. Walton quickly summoned the medical personnel and sent off Shawcross.
In the 2009/10 season, Peter Walton did everything he could to make sure Manchester City didnt finish in the top four. Two displays of incompetence against Liverpool and Everton at the City of Manchester Stadium where he failed to keep up with the play on several occasions, probably because he is 50, may well ensure that Walton will get an added FA bonus for preventing City reaching the Champions League.