Craig Pawson
Over the last 5 EFL Cup games Craig Pawson has officiated, the average is 3.20 cards a match — in line with the league average of 3.29. That splits 3.0 yellow and 0.2 red a game — a red in 1 of the 5. Home and away sides fare about the same here (1.6 v 1.6 a game), where the league tilts +0.1 toward the away side. 5+ cards landed in 20% of those games (1 of 5), from a 14.8% foul-to-booking rate. These are raw match figures from those games, not odds.
Match cards last 5 games
Career profile
The two numbers that matter are vs league — the multiplier the model applies to a player's booking chance — and conversion, the share of fouls Craig Pawson turns into bookings. Conversion, not the raw foul count, is where a referee's real card tendency lives. Career figures across every EFL Cup season on record.
| Measure | Pawson | League avg |
|---|---|---|
| Cards / match | 3.20 | 3.29 |
| vs league | 0.97× | 1.00× |
| Foul-to-card conversion | 14.8% | 15.7% |
| Fouls / match | 21.6 | 21.0 |
| Red cards shown | 1 | — |
| Matches on record | 5 (1 in 26/27) | — |
Recent matches
The last 5 EFL Cup games Craig Pawson took charge of — the actual card and foul counts a match-cards line settles on.
| Match | Score | Cards | Y | R | Fouls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Millwall v Newcastle8 Sep | 0–1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 27 |
| Liverpool v Crystal Palace29 Oct | 0–3 | 5 1 red | 4 | 1 | 27 |
| Wolves v Everton23 Sep | 2–0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 26 |
| Liverpool v Tottenham6 Feb | 4–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Fulham v Norwich27 Sep | 2–1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 15 |
● a red card in that match
Craig Pawson has officiated only 5 matches on our record — a thin sample. The model shrinks a thin referee tendency toward the league average and discounts its confidence until the evidence builds, so read the numbers above gently.
Frequently asked
How many cards does Craig Pawson give per game?
Craig Pawson averages 3.20 cards a game across 5 EFL Cup matches — 3% below the league average of 3.29. That's a raw rate from only 5 matches, so the model shrinks it toward the league average rather than trusting it outright.
Is Craig Pawson a strict referee?
No — slightly more lenient than most. The honest measure is foul-to-card conversion — the share of fouls that become bookings — and Craig Pawson runs at 14.8% against a league average of 15.7%. Foul counts barely vary between officials; the rate at which a foul becomes a booking is where referees genuinely differ.
Does Craig Pawson's record change bet builder card prices?
It should. The referee is the single biggest factor in the to-be-carded market, and the appointment is public before kick-off — so a strict official on a combative player is the archetypal card edge. The player cards guide walks through exactly how the model turns a tendency like this into a price.
How reliable is Craig Pawson's card rate?
It rests on 5 career matches, still a thin sample — read it gently. The model shrinks a referee's tendency toward the league average when the sample is thin and discounts its own confidence for officials with young records, so a number like this never gets trusted beyond what the evidence earns.
Rates shown are figures from public match data for context; the model adds shrinkage and an opponent factor, and discounts its confidence for thin referee records, before flagging any card as value. It compares against the bookmaker's price as offered — card markets are priced one side only, so that price still carries the bookmaker's margin. 18+ — please gamble responsibly.