RateTheRef

remier League PAR: (Please predict the referee, fourth official and VAR – 3pm K/O unless stated)

Saturday 14th March 2026

Sunderland v Brighton & Hove Albion – Darren England/Anthony Backhouse/Matt Donohue
Arsenal v Everton (5.30pm) – Anthony Taylor/Tim Robinson/Stuart Attwell
Chelsea v Newcastle United (5.30pm) – Craig Pawson/Sam Barrott/Michael Salisbury
West Ham United v Manchester City (8pm) – Chris Kavanagh/Thomas Brammall/Tim Wood

Sunday 15th March 2026

Crystal Palace v Leeds United (2pm) – Jarred Gillett/Tim Robinson/Tony Harrington
Manchester United v Aston Villa (2pm) – Andy Madley/Sam Barrott/John Brooks
Nottingham Forest v Fulham (2pm) – Peter Bankes/John Busby/James Bell
Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur (4.30pm) – Michael Oliver/Thomas Brammall/Paul Tierney

Monday 16th March 2026

Brentford v Wolverhampton Wanderers (8pm) – Stuart Attwell/Farai Hallam/Paul Howard

Official Line: (Please predict all appointments below for this one fixture)

Burnley v Bournemouth (Saturday, 3pm)
Referee: Andrew Kitchen
Assistant Referee: Adrian Holmes
Assistant Referee: Simon Long
Fourth Official: Andy Madley
VAR: Nick Hopton
AVAR: John Brooks

EFL PAR: (Please predict the referee for the following games - matches 14th March, 3pm K/O unless stated)

Championship:

Coventry City v Southampton (12.30pm) – Stephen Martin
Norwich City v Preston North End – Elliott Bell

League One:

Mansfield Town v Barnsley – Alex Chilowicz
Stevenage v AFC Wimbledon – Paul Howard

League Two:

Notts County v Chesterfield (12.30pm) – Martin Coy
Shrewsbury Town v Cheltenham Town – Aaron Bannister

The Randomiser:

Please predict an official who will be an answer to the following questions

1) Who will be appointed assistant referee in the League Two?? Harley Hetherington

2) Who will oversee a game with a winning margin of 3 goals or more?? Michael Oliver

3) Name a referee who will issue a red card in 2nd half? Anthony Taylor

Great to see Natalie Aspinall back in the appointments after injury

PL assistant referee stats.  Below is the list of each PL team and which assistant is the most frequent on that team's matches.  The total number of different assistants is also listed.  34 officials have ran the line on at least 1 PL game this season so the totals are out of 34.

Arsenal- Hussin, Ledger, W Smith (5 Times)- 26 different assistants
Villa- Nick Hopton (5 Times)- 24 different assistants
Bournemouth- James Mainwaring (5 Times)- 26 different assistants
Brentford- Steve Meredith (5 Times)- 26 different assistants
Brighton- Lee Betts (5 Times)- 26 different assistants
Burnley- Stuart Burt (6 Times)- 24 different assistants
Chelsea- Davies, Howson, Nunn, W Smith (4 Times)- 23 different assistants
C Palace- Bennett, Ledger, Scholes (4 Times)- 27 different assistants
Everton- Lee Betts (6 Times)- 24 different assistants
Fulham- Lee Betts (6 Times)- 25 different assistants
Leeds- Antrobus, Smart (5 Times)- 26 different assistants
Liverpool- Beswick Holmes, Long, Nunn (6 Times)- 20 different assistants
Man City- Nick Greenhalgh (6 Times)- 22 different assistants
Man United- Beswick, Davies, Long, Wilkes, Wood (4 Times)- 21 different assistants
Newcastle- Hatzidakis, Smart (6 Times)- 22 different assistants
Forest- Bennett, Mainwaring, Nunn, Smart (4 Times)- 27 different assistants
Sunderland- Constantine Hatzidakis (6 Times)- 27 different assistants
Tottenham- Nick Greenhalgh (5 Times)- 27 different assistants
West Ham- Hatzidakis, Perry (5 Times)- 28 different assistants
Wolves- Neil Davies (5 Times)- 23 different assistants

Only 4 assistants have officiated all 20 PL teams they are:

- Craig Taylor
- Scott Ledger
- Constantine Hatzidakis
- Dan Cook

5 assistants have done 19 teams, they are:

- Nunn (Burnley)
- Beswick (Burnley)
- Holmes (C Palace)
- Bennett (Burnley)
- Antrobus (Everton)

Most consistent assistant partnerships:

Beswick and Nunn- 19 Games
Smart and Antrobus- 18 Games
Holmes and Long- 18 Games
Burt and Mainwaring- 15 Games
Ledger and Howson- 14 Games
Cook and Hussin- 13 Games
Betts and Wilkes- 12 Games
Wood and Smith- 9 Games
Davies and Greenhalgh- 7 Games
Hatzidakis and Hopton- 7 Games
Hopton and C Taylor- 7 Games
Davies and Meredith- 6 Games
Scholes and West- 6 Games

Below is the most common referee and VAR for each PL Team and also the number of different referees and VARS they have had.  23 officials have refereed at least 1 PL game this season and 22 officials have acted as VAR on at least 1 PL Game this season so the totals are out of 23 and 22 respectively.

Most Common Referee (23 in total)

Arsenal- Chris Kavanagh (4 Times) - 15 different referees
Aston Villa- Attwell, Hooper, Madley and Oliver (3 Times)- 16 different referees
Bournemouth- Barrott, Hooper, Oliver, Taylor (3 Times)- 16 different referees
Brentford- Bankes, Barrott, Brooks, Madley (3 Times)- 16 different referees
Brighton- Chris Kavanagh (4 Times)- 16 different referees
Burnley- Barrott, Oliver, Robinson (3 Times)- 18 different referees
Chelsea- Darren England (4 Times)- 15 different referees
C Palace- Thomas Brammall (4 Times)- 16 different referees
Everton- Attwell, Harrington, Kavanagh, Pawson (3 Times)- 14 different referees
Fulham- Craig Pawson (4 Times)- 16 different referees
Leeds- Peter Bankes (4 Times)- 15 different referees
Liverpool- Chris Kavanagh and Anthony Taylor (5 Times)- 12 different referees
Man City- Darren England (4 Times)- 15 different referees
Man United- Anthony Taylor (4 Times)- 16 different referees
Newcastle- Peter Bankes (5 Times)- 13 different referees
Forest- Bankes, Barrott, England, Harrington, Oliver, Taylor (3 Times)- 14 different referees
Sunderland- Stuart Attwell (4 Times)- 16 different referees
Tottenham- Jarred Gillett (4 Times)- 15 different referees
West Ham- No referee has officiated West Ham on more than 2 occasions - 20 different referees
Wolves- Brammall and Gillett (3 Times)- 19 different referees

- Interesting points that West Ham have been refereed by everybody other than Hallam, Kirk and L Smith
- Liverpool have the smallest variety of referees with only 12 out of 23 having taken charge of their games
- Chris Kavanagh is the only referee to have taken charge of all 20 PL teams.  Taylor has done 19 (yet to do Burnley)

Most Common VAR (22 in total)

Arsenal- John Brooks (5 Times)- 12 different VARS
Villa- Bankes, Howard, Tierney (4 Times)- 14 different VARS
Bournemouth- John Brooks (5 Times)- 15 different VARS
Brentford- Paul Tierney (4 Times)- 15 different VARS
Brighton- Tony Harrington (4 Times)- 15 different VARS
Burnley- Neil Davies (4 Times)- 16 diferent VARS
Chelsea- Craig Pawson (6 Times)- 11 different VARS
C Palace- Matt Donohue (5 Times)- 17 different VARS
Everton- Attwell and Bell (4 Times)- 14 different VARS
Fulham- Brooks and Harrington (4 Times)- 15 different VARS
Leeds- 7 VARS have acted as VAR on Leeds games 3 Times- 14 different VARS
Liverpool- John Brooks (7 Times)- 12 different VARS
Man City- Paul Howard (4 Times)- 17 different VARS
Man United- Craig Pawson (4 Times)- 15 different VARS
Newcastle- Paul Tierney (5 Times)- 13 different VARS
Forest- Andy Madley (5 Times)- 14 different VARS
Sunderland- Michael Salisbury (4 Times)- 14 different VARS
Tottenham- Stuart Attwell (4 Times)- 13 different VARS
West Ham- Brooks and Oliver (3 Times)- 17 different VARS
Wolves- Stuart Attwell (4 Times)- 17 different VARS

-Wolves, West Ham, Palace and Burnley seem to be the teams that everybody is trusted with for VAR
- Liverpool and Chelsea have by far the least variety when it comes to different VARS
- Andy Madley has only been VAR 10 times and half of his appointments have been on Forest games
- Nobody has VAR'd for all 20 teams.  Paul Tierney (Chelsea) and James Bell (Burnley) have done 19 teams

Other regular SG2 Partnerships

John Busby- Mark Russell
Ben Toner- Conor Brown
Oli Langford- Mark Stevens

Below is VARs who have worked with a particular AVAR on the most occassions:

Attwell- Hatzidakis (8 Times)
Brooks- Robathan (5 Times)
England- C Taylor (3 Times)
Gillett- T R0obinson (4 Times)
Madley- Massey-Ellis (3 Times)
Pawson- Holmes (5 Times)
Wood- Smith (6 Times)
Howard- Massey-Ellis (11 Times)
Donohue- Wood (3 Times)
Tierney- Perry and Hussin (3 Times)
Hopton- Attwell (3 Times)

I have spreadsheets for each time a referee works with each assistant, 4th and VAR and each time a VAR works with each AVAR.  Also number of times a referee, VAR and Assistant has done each team.  If anybody would like any information these please ask and I will share

Think the combination of Gillett Davies and Meredith could be the Carabao Cup final team?  Perhaps an outside bet on James Bell as VAR since he is working with Jarred on both his matches.  That would be a deserved appointment aswell considering the season he has had on VAR

SG2 assistants for Peter Wright and Elliott Swallow.  I wonder if either of these guys might get a trial Championship game over the coming weeks