Which referee gives the most cards in the Premier League?
Every card price has one official silently included in it — not one of the players. The appointment is public before kick-off, the record is measurable, and the effect on the cards markets is the largest single factor the model prices, larger than the derby, larger than the opponent. This page is the file: card and foul rates for every official on the current panel, with the sample sizes shown, because a tendency built on six matches is a rumour and one built on a hundred is a fact. The player cards guide explains how the model turns these numbers into a price.
Career rates across every season we hold, for each referee who took charge of a Premier League match in 26/27. Deliberately not a next-season panel prediction — officials come and go every summer, so we profile who actually officiated. League averages: 4.08 cards and 21.9 fouls per match, a 18.6% foul-to-card conversion.
There are 15 referees on the current Premier League panel with a meaningful record, plus 3 newer officials still building one. John Brooks is the strictest — 4.59 cards a match, 1.12× the league average of 4.08; Michael Oliver is the most lenient at 3.67 a match. Michael Salisbury awards the most penalties, 0.38 a game against a league average of 0.25. These are career card rates across every season we hold, the referee-tendency map the cards model prices from — not a prediction.
Who's refereeing this week
The Premier League appointments already confirmed. Each official's own card and foul record is one click away — the referee is the single biggest factor in the cards markets, and this is the part you know before kick-off.
| Match | Referee | Kick-off |
|---|---|---|
| Coventry City v Newcastle | John Brooks | Mon 12 Oct 20:00 |
The panel, strictest first
Two columns do the real work here. vs league is each referee's card rate against the average — the number the model multiplies a player's booking chance by. And conversion is the tell: foul counts barely vary between officials, but the share of fouls that become bookings varies a lot. A referee at the top of this table isn't seeing a dirtier game than one at the bottom, but reaching for the pocket where a colleague lower down would have a word. That distinction, not the raw whistle count, is where a card tendency lives.
Pens / match is the third column worth your time — how often each official awards a penalty, against a Premier League average of 0.25 a game. Read it against that average and nothing else: the base rate differs by league, and a penalty is rare enough that even a full career of matches leaves a wide margin around the number. The model doesn't price penalties — this one is context, not a signal we bet on.
| Referee | Matches | 26/27 | Cards / match | vs league | Fouls / match | Conversion | Pens / match | Reds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Brooks | 74 | 3 | 4.59 | 1.12× | 21.9 | 21.0% | 0.33 | 10 |
| Robert Jones | 90 | 3 | 4.36 | 1.07× | 23.4 | 18.6% | 0.33 | 9 |
| Darren England | 76 | 4 | 4.30 | 1.05× | 22.1 | 19.5% | 0.20 | 10 |
| Stuart Attwell | 89 | 3 | 4.28 | 1.05× | 21.1 | 20.3% | 0.21 | 13 |
| Chris Kavanagh | 90 | 3 | 4.23 | 1.04× | 21.8 | 19.4% | 0.26 | 14 |
| Peter Bankes | 79 | 3 | 4.23 | 1.04× | 21.6 | 19.6% | 0.19 | 9 |
| Michael Salisbury | 59 | 2 | 4.08 | 1.00× | 22.7 | 18.0% | 0.38 | 10 |
| Thomas Bramall | 55 | 3 | 4.07 | 1.00× | 22.5 | 18.1% | 0.31 | 9 |
| Craig Pawson | 85 | 2 | 3.94 | 0.97× | 22.7 | 17.4% | 0.31 | 9 |
| Samuel Barrott | 65 | 3 | 3.92 | 0.96× | 20.0 | 19.6% | 0.25 | 3 |
| Jarred Gillett | 80 | 4 | 3.85 | 0.94× | 20.3 | 19.0% | 0.27 | 4 |
| Tony Harrington | 48 | 3 | 3.83 | 0.94× | 21.7 | 17.7% | 0.28 | 6 |
| Paul Tierney | 68 | 2 | 3.74 | 0.92× | 21.2 | 17.6% | 0.16 | 7 |
| Andy Madley | 92 | 3 | 3.71 | 0.91× | 22.7 | 16.3% | 0.17 | 11 |
| Michael Oliver | 114 | 5 | 3.67 | 0.90× | 22.2 | 16.5% | 0.20 | 14 |
The newer officials — small samples, read gently
These referees took charge in 26/27 but haven't yet built a record worth betting on — under 15 career matches, a card rate is mostly noise wearing a decimal point. The model treats them exactly as this table presents them: shrunk toward the league average and carrying a confidence discount until the evidence arrives. We'd rather show you a thin sample labelled honestly than a confident number that hasn't been earned.
| Referee | Matches | 26/27 | Cards / match | Fouls / match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Herczeg | 1 | 1 | 5.00 | 22.0 |
| Josh Smith | 9 | 1 | 4.33 | 21.8 |
| Farai Hallam | 6 | 2 | 3.17 | 21.3 |
How the Premier League compares
Premier League sits between the other leagues we cover on cards — 4.08 a match against La Liga's 4.86 and the Bundesliga's 4.07 — with 21.9 fouls a game.
| League | Cards / match | Fouls / match | Foul → card |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League you're here | 4.08 | 21.9 | 18.6% |
| Bundesliga | 4.07 | 22.1 | 18.4% |
| UEFA Champions League | 3.96 | 21.9 | 18.0% |
| Championship | 4.01 | 21.9 | 18.3% |
| EFL Cup | 3.29 | 21.0 | 15.7% |
| UEFA Europa League | 4.55 | 24.2 | 18.8% |
| La Liga | 4.86 | 25.4 | 19.1% |
| Ligue 1 | 3.87 | 24.5 | 15.8% |
| UEFA Nations League | 3.97 | 22.5 | 17.7% |
| Serie A | 4.19 | 24.7 | 16.9% |
Career rates across every season we hold, built the same way in each competition. Stricter isn't better or worse — it's the baseline each referee on this page is measured against.
Other officials on record
Career records the model still uses for the matches each one covers. The season shown is the last with a Premier League match on record.
Anthony Taylor retired David Coote retired Simon Hooper 25/26 Tim Robinson 25/26 Darren Bond 24/25 Andre Marriner 22/23 Graham Scott 23/24 Lewis Smith 25/26 Andrew Kitchen 25/26 Thomas Kirk 25/26 Matt Donohue 25/26 Sam Allison 24/25 David Webb 24/25 Rebecca Welch 23/24 Robert Madley 23/24 Sunny Sukhvir Gill 23/24
What to do with this
A referee tendency tips a bet; it doesn't decide one. The archetypal card edge is a confluence — a combative midfielder, a strict official, a fixture with an edge to it — and the referee column is one input among several, applied to a player's own booking rate rather than replacing it. It's also worth saying plainly: the referee effect is strongest in the player to-be-carded market, and cards stay the hardest thing we price — in every league we grade, at least one card line (sometimes match totals, sometimes individual bookings) comes out no better than the base rate, and our public track record names which rather than hiding it. Anyone selling referee stats as a printing press is selling the fun half.
Frequently asked
Which referee gives the most cards in the Premier League?
John Brooks — 4.59 cards a match, against a Premier League average of 4.08, across every season on record. The table above is sorted on that number, so the next two rows are second and third. Worth reading beside the conversion column: the official at the top is not seeing a dirtier game, but reaching for the pocket where a colleague would have a word.
Which Premier League referee gives the fewest cards?
Michael Oliver — 3.67 a match against the same 4.08 average. The gap between the two ends of the panel is the largest single factor the cards model prices, and because the appointment is published before kick-off it is measurable in advance.
How many referees are there in the Premier League?
The table above lists every official who took charge of a Premier League match in 26/27 and has built a meaningful record, with the newer ones shown separately rather than mixed in. The panel churns every summer, so the honest answer is whoever actually officiated — which is what this page shows, updated as the season runs.
Do referees really move card prices?
More than any other single factor in the player cards market. The table above shows how far each Premier League official's card rate sits from the average — and because the appointment is public before kick-off, it's measurable in advance. The modelling guide on player cards walks through exactly how we use it.
Why is this the 26/27 panel?
Because it's the one we can stand behind. The panel churns every summer — promotions, retirements, removals — so a page of officials nobody has appointed yet is partly fiction, and a season only a few matches old can't tell you who is on it either. We profile the officials who actually took charge of a Premier League match in 26/27, with career numbers across every season we hold, and the page moves on once the new season has enough behind it.
What does the conversion column mean?
The share of fouls that become cards under each referee. It's the honest way to separate strict from whistle-happy: foul counts barely vary between officials, but the rate at which a foul turns into a booking varies a lot — that's where a referee's real card tendency lives.
Does the model use these exact numbers?
Nearly. The model uses each referee's card tendency relative to the league, shrunk toward neutral when the sample is thin, and it discounts its own confidence for officials with young records — the same caution the small-sample table below wears openly.
Descriptive rates from public match data, shown with sample sizes for context. The model applies shrinkage and a confidence discount before any of this touches a price, and grades itself in public on the track record. 18+ — please gamble responsibly.