Premier League referees — who books, and who lets it flow
Every card price has one man silently included in it, and he isn't playing. The referee's appointment is public before kick-off, his record is measurable, and his effect on the cards markets is the largest single factor the model prices — larger than the derby, larger than the opponent. This page is his 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 25/26. Deliberately not a next-season panel prediction — officials come and go every summer, so we profile who actually officiated. League averages: 4.09 cards and 21.9 fouls per match, a 18.7% foul-to-card conversion.
There are 18 referees on the current Premier League panel with a meaningful record, plus 5 newer officials still building one. John Brooks is the strictest — 4.52 cards a match, 1.11× the league average of 4.09; Andy Madley is the most lenient at 3.7 a match. Michael Salisbury awards the most penalties, 0.39 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.
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 — he's reaching for the pocket where his colleague has a word. That distinction, not the raw whistle count, is where a card tendency actually 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 | 25/26 | Cards / match | vs league | Fouls / match | Conversion | Pens / match | Reds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Brooks | 71 | 13 | 4.52 | 1.11× | 21.9 | 20.7% | 0.31 | 9 |
| Robert Jones | 87 | 18 | 4.40 | 1.08× | 23.1 | 19.1% | 0.33 | 9 |
| Darren England | 72 | 23 | 4.35 | 1.06× | 22.2 | 19.6% | 0.21 | 10 |
| Tim Robinson | 48 | 10 | 4.33 | 1.06× | 23.3 | 18.6% | 0.23 | 4 |
| Simon Hooper | 93 | 15 | 4.28 | 1.05× | 21.4 | 20.0% | 0.15 | 8 |
| Peter Bankes | 76 | 22 | 4.24 | 1.04× | 21.6 | 19.6% | 0.20 | 8 |
| Stuart Attwell | 86 | 25 | 4.21 | 1.03× | 20.9 | 20.1% | 0.21 | 12 |
| Chris Kavanagh | 87 | 29 | 4.20 | 1.03× | 21.7 | 19.3% | 0.26 | 13 |
| Thomas Bramall | 52 | 22 | 4.15 | 1.01× | 22.4 | 18.5% | 0.31 | 9 |
| Michael Salisbury | 57 | 14 | 4.14 | 1.01× | 22.7 | 18.2% | 0.39 | 10 |
| Anthony Taylor | 119 | 31 | 4.01 | 0.98× | 20.7 | 19.4% | 0.29 | 16 |
| Samuel Barrott | 62 | 24 | 3.97 | 0.97× | 20.0 | 19.8% | 0.24 | 3 |
| Craig Pawson | 83 | 21 | 3.94 | 0.96× | 22.5 | 17.5% | 0.30 | 9 |
| Tony Harrington | 45 | 11 | 3.87 | 0.95× | 21.9 | 17.6% | 0.27 | 5 |
| Jarred Gillett | 76 | 22 | 3.86 | 0.94× | 20.1 | 19.1% | 0.28 | 4 |
| Paul Tierney | 66 | 12 | 3.79 | 0.93× | 21.2 | 17.9% | 0.17 | 7 |
| Michael Oliver | 109 | 29 | 3.70 | 0.90× | 22.2 | 16.7% | 0.20 | 13 |
| Andy Madley | 89 | 21 | 3.70 | 0.90× | 22.7 | 16.3% | 0.17 | 11 |
The newer officials — small samples, read gently
These referees took charge last season 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 | 25/26 | Cards / match | Fouls / match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Donohue | 5 | 3 | 5.60 | 28.4 |
| Lewis Smith | 10 | 1 | 4.60 | 24.0 |
| Thomas Kirk | 6 | 6 | 3.50 | 24.0 |
| Andrew Kitchen | 6 | 4 | 3.17 | 24.5 |
| Farai Hallam | 4 | 4 | 2.50 | 20.8 |
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 cover, 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
How many referees are there in the Premier League?
The table above lists every official who took charge of a Premier League match last season 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.
Who is the strictest referee in the Premier League?
The one at the top of the table — it's sorted by cards per match, and the opening paragraph names him with his rate against the league average. Worth reading with the conversion column next to it: the strictest official isn't seeing a dirtier game, he's reaching for the pocket where a colleague has a word.
Do referees really move card prices?
More than any other single factor in the player cards market. Among Premier League officials with a meaningful sample, card rates run from roughly 10% below the league average to 10% above it — 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 isn't this a list of next season's referees?
Because nobody knows it yet. The panel churns every summer — promotions, retirements, removals — so a pre-season 'next season's referees' page is partly fiction. We profile the officials who actually took charge of a Premier League match last season, with career numbers across every season we hold.
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.