Premier League referees 2026/27: Mark your card ahead of the new season

Getting some prior research done on Premier League referees before betting on a game can really help. If you look up info on the first official, then you’ll get useful context before betting on the amount of cards, fouls or even potential penalties being given in a specific game. 

The Premier League is the most-watched football league on the planet, with around 1.45 billion people having watched England’s top flight during the 2024/2025 season. With that amount of viewers comes added scrutiny, which also means that there’s a lot more data to pour over and get a view of what each man in the middle usually does during the 90 minutes of a domestic fixture. 

Different officials had noticeably different disciplinary records back in the 2025/26 season, like Stuart Attwell averaging 4.60 yellow cards per game compared to Craig Pawson’s 2.67. Knowing that sort of difference really, really matters, and we’ll be looking at how you can use that to your advantage below.

A look at the current Premier League referees

The Premier League changed its refereeing structure for the 2026/27 season. A brand new Professional Referee Group now supplies officials for both the Premier League and the country’s second-tier (the EFL Championship), which replaces the previous Select Group system. The main reason for this change was to create a larger and more flexible pool to choose from compared to previous seasons.

Officials across the Premier League and Championship are often some of the most widely regarded internationally too, with 37 Pro Ref officials currently on FIFA’s International List.

Chris Kavanagh

Chris Kavanagh was the second-most tenured referee of the Premier League last season, behind the now-retired Anthony Taylor. Kavanagh took charge of 30 Premier League fixtures during the 2025/26 season, giving an average of 22.30 fouls per game, 4.07 yellow cards and 0.23 penalties across the 30 games.

Kavanagh was also given some high-profile assignments for the 25/26 season, with one example being Liverpool’s home game against Arsenal in August 2025, which saw Liverpool win 1-0 and 2 yellow cards being issued to both sides apiece.

Michael Oliver

Michael Oliver also had an extensive run in the 2025/26 Premier League season, having refereed 29 Premier League matches as the first official. Oliver gave on average 22.93 fouls per game (so higher than Kavanagh and Taylor) as well as showing 88 yellow cards and 2 reds across the season. Oliver’s 0.07 penalties-per-game rate equates to him having only given out 2 spot kicks the entire year.

One of the biggest fixtures he took charge of was Manchester United’s 2-0 win against Tottenham back in February. Oliver sent Cristian Romero off after 29 minutes as well as issuing 3 yellows during the 90 (1 for United and 2 for Spurs).

Stuart Attwell

Stuart Attwell was in charge of 25 games during the 2025/26 season, giving out an average of 21.68 fouls per game, 4.60 yellow cards per game on average, 3 red cards for a rate of 0.12 per game and 0.32 spot kicks issued.

Attwell was in the middle of the park for the Arsenal vs Manchester City game back in September 2025. Attwell gave 1 yellow to the Gunners during the 90 minutes and 2 to City, with Bernardo Silva and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma getting in the book.

Premier League refereeing trends – at a glance

The table below features every referee with 20+ Premier League games in the 2024/25 as the first official. Note that this table is based on Yellow cards issued per Game, with Stuart Attwell at the top (4.6 per game) and Craig Pawson at the bottom (2.67 per game).

Anthony Taylor is included, but remember that he did retire back in July 2026, so he won’t be featuring going forward.

The stats here show that there wasn’t some outright ‘strictest’ referee last season, which was probably helped (depending on your definition of helped!) by the intervention of VAR. Attwell led the ground in terms of yellows, but Oliver called for the most fouls per game and only averaged around 3.03 yellows issued. 

That is really why bettors should look closely at the specific stats and market, rather than just simply labelling a particular official as really lenient or trigger-happy when it comes to issuing cards.

Referee-related betting markets

Referee statistics really come in to play for a relatively small group of betting markets, but they can make all of the difference. UK bookmakers can often offer cards, fouls or penalty markets on the sportsbook, although availability and settlement rules will vary by specific operator and fixture. Some of these options can be combined into a bet builder, subject to the operator’s rules, and this could make a big difference to your return if you get it right.

Yellow and red cards

Cards issued are the clearest referee-related market you can bet on right now. You’ll usually find the likes of over/under total-cards issued as a line, team total-card markets and individual players to be booked. 

So, that means if you’re looking at a match that involves Stuart Attwell, you’re more likely to lean towards an over 2.5 cards per game bet rather than an under (due to his 4.6 yellows per game average). Conversely, you’d be more hesitant to do that with someone like Craig Pawson, seeing as his average was 2.67 during the last season.

It’s not a guaranteed winner every time, but knowing what sort of referee is in the middle gives you that extra bit of info on what might potentially happen.

Fouls

Betting on Fouls is less universal than yellow and red cards, but player foul markets are available with some operators. Both bet365 and Sky Bet, for example, have player fouls among its individual player markets.

Knowing how individual players are likely to react is also a big bonus here. If you know that a defensive midfielder is more likely to be caught out by a tricky winger or striker on the turn plus you’ve got a referee that likes to dish out cards? Then you might be on to a winner.

Penalty to be awarded

Penalty markets can usually cover whether a spot-kick is awarded, scored or taken by a particular team. Sky Bet’s rules include markets for a penalty to be taken, two or more penalties to be awarded and a team to score a penalty, so you’ll probably find those markets available on one of the bigger games this season.

If the individual market concerns a specific player scoring from the spot, then you’ll want to know who the team’s current spot kick taker is. As noted above, someone like Attwell gave 0.32 penalties per game in 2025/26 compared to Oliver’s 0.07, so again knowing who is the first official can make a difference.

How to find out who’s the ref before a Premier League game

Referee appointments (including the linesmen and fourth official) are usually published on the official Premier League site on the Monday before the next gameweek. This gets shifted to Tuesday if a Premier League fixture is played on a Monday (which is a fairly usual occurrence now with Sky Sports’s MNF).

Appointments for a specific game will consider the referee’s experience, form, previous involvement with the clubs playing, the team the official supports and upcoming international duties. This means that declared club allegiances also form part of the selection process, so if a referee is a Crystal Palace fan, he/she won’t be selected for a Palace game nor a Brighton game, as the Seagulls are Palace’s biggest rivals in the top flight.

This information will then usually appear in official previews on individual club sites, reputable news outlets and betting platforms. However, checking the official Premier League appointment list is always going to be the most reliable starting point and a few days ahead of everywhere else.

FAQs about Premier League referees

1. How often are Premier League games decided by penalties or red cards?

There is no official statistic that measures whether a match was specifically “decided” by a penalty or a red card decision.

However, there were 92 penalties awarded across 380 Premier League matches during the 2025/26 season, which is equivalent to one for roughly every 4.1 games.

There were also 44 red cards issued during the 25/26, and while that does not mean that any of these incidents directly led to the result of a game, they certainly made a difference and should be considered when you’re taking into account the risk of a specific bet.

2. Is there any correlation between a higher number of fouls in a game to a lower number of goals?

A lot of fouls taking place during a game does not automatically mean that fewer goals are likely to be scored.

While a game with lots of fouling can interrupt the glow, actually scoring a goal is affected by a number of different variables, like shots on target, the quality of the finishing and who is actually taking the shot on goal.

Doing research into specific player stats is really helpful here, as games with a lot of fouls could also mean that there’s a chance for a free kick specialist to do some damage. This means that a referee’s foul average should be used as supporting context rather than as a shortcut to an exact under-goals bet.

3. Can a referee officiate multiple games for a specific team in one season?

Yes, there is no law that says a referee cannot take charge of a game featuring the same Premier League time multiple times a season.

However, the number of previous appointments a referee has been given involving each club in a game is taken into consideration. This means that appointments are managed rather than just randomly allocated, with club allegiance, form, experience and international experience again playing the biggest factors.

4. How has VAR impacted live sports betting?

VAR (Video Assistant Referee) has created yet another layer of uncertainty around goals, penalties and red cards during live betting, as an initial decision by the first official can be reviewed and then subsequently changed after discussion with the VAR room.

What that uncertainty does not mean, though, is that VAR decisions are any less accurate. Premier League figures for the 24/25 season showed that 86% of key match incidents were ruled correct on the pitch, but this rose to 97% after VAR intervention.

The practical issue for bettors is the settlement of a bet. What at first appeared to be a goal, a penalty or a straight red could still be under review, so it’s always worth checking the operator’s rules state exactly.

About the author

Nathan Hill

Nathan Hill is an experienced sports writer who obsessively follows football – both the round ball and American kind – as well as range of other sports including F1, basketball, darts and snooker.

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