{"id":1340370,"date":"2026-03-06T11:59:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T11:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1340370"},"modified":"2026-03-06T11:59:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T11:59:19","slug":"premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/","title":{"rendered":"Premier League referee stats: Officials ranked by fouls per card"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Refereeing. It&#8217;s not an easy job.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Depending on which group of fans you ask, every referee is either biased for or against certain teams. Some are also known to be stricter than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are referees you don&#8217;t want in charge of your team, and there are some you might enjoy. The question is, who is actually the strictest referee in the Premier League this season?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;ve taken a look at all the officials to have taken charge of at least one game in the 2025-26 Premier League, ranking them by the number of fouls per card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Read More<\/strong>: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/var-errors-premier-league-2025-26\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">You can find the 2025-26 Premier League table without VAR errors here<\/a>.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-craig-pawson-8-2-fouls-per-card\">Craig Pawson (8.2 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>17<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>363<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>5<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>44 (42 yellow, 2 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This may not be the name you&#8217;d expect to see here. Craig Pawson is actually the most lenient referee in the Premier League this season. He&#8217;s taken charge of 17 games so far, averaging just over 21 fouls per match. Despite that, he only averages 2.5 cards per game. Pawson has been letting a lot slide, for better and worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-michael-oliver-7-7-fouls-per-card\">Michael Oliver (7.7 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>21<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>470<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>1<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>60 (58 yellow, 2 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michael Oliver is one of the most-used referees in the Premier League this season. And one of the Premier League&#8217;s most-trusted officials. Oliver has awarded more fouls than any other referee this season in 470, but he only averages 2.9 cards per game. He has also, interestingly, only awarded one penalty so far in the league.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-farai-hallam-7-0-fouls-per-card\">Farai Hallam (7.0 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>49<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards:<\/strong> 7 (7 yellow, 0 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Farai Hallam is one of the Premier League&#8217;s newest referees, making his debut in January 2026. He&#8217;s overseen two games so far, showing four yellow cards in Manchester City&#8217;s 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers and three in Crystal Palace&#8217;s 3-2 defeat to Burnley. Hallam did make headlines for rejecting a recommended VAR review on debut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-andrew-kitchen-6-5-fouls-per-card\">Andrew Kitchen (6.5 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>72<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>11 (11 yellow, 0 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Andrew Kitchen is another of the Premier League&#8217;s newer faces, though he did make the step up last season. Kitchen has taken charge of three games so far this season and has shown at least three yellow cards in each of his matches. Despite this, he is still one of the more lenient referees with 6.5 fouls per card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-andy-madley-5-9-fouls-per-card\">Andy Madley (5.9 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>15<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>341<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>5<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>57 (54 yellow, 3 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Andy Madley is one of the more familiar faces among the Premier League referee pool. And he&#8217;s been used a fair few times in 2025-26 so far. Madley has awarded five penalties so far this season, placing him pretty high on the rankings there. Despite that, he is one of the more lenient referees with 57 cards across 341 fouls awarded. That does include three red cards, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-tony-harrington-5-9-fouls-per-card\">Tony Harrington (5.9 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>12<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>236<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>40 (38 yellow, 2 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If we were ranking this on cards per game, Tony Harrington would be even more lenient. He has averaged just 3.3 cards per game in the league this season, with 38 yellows and two reds across his 12 matches. Those have come from 236 fouls awarded, at an average of 5.9 fouls per card. He&#8217;s shown six cards in a single game on two occasions this season, both coming near the start of the campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-chris-kavanagh-5-6-fouls-per-card\">Chris Kavanagh (5.6 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>21<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>477<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>6<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>83 (81 yellow, 2 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chris Kavanagh is an interesting figure. He is one of the most-used referees in the Premier League season, with 21 games. As a result, he also ranks highly for cards and fouls. And he&#8217;s awarded six penalties, among the most in the division. But he&#8217;s still pretty lenient. Despite the high number of cards and fouls, it works out to 5.6 fouls per card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-simon-hooper-5-6-fouls-per-card\">Simon Hooper (5.6 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>15<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>350<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>1<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>62 (60 yellow, 2 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simon Hooper has shown nine cards in one Premier League game this season. Chelsea&#8217;s 3-1 home defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion was a fiery affair with eight yellow cards and one red. But even with that match, Hooper still has a pretty lenient record for cards per fouls. That&#8217;s because he averages 23.3 fouls per game, and only 4.1 cards per match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-tim-robinson-5-4-fouls-per-card\">Tim Robinson (5.4 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>9<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>206<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>1<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>38 (36 yellow, 2 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tim Robinson averages 4.2 cards per game in the Premier League this season. But most of his total card tally was shown in one game. He showed 10 yellow cards and one red in Sunderland&#8217;s 3-2 win over Bournemouth in November. Robinson also awarded a penalty in that match. This is all despite awarding just 206 fouls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-peter-bankes-5-3-fouls-per-card\">Peter Bankes (5.3 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>21<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>478<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>6<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>87 (83 yellow, 4 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Peter Bankes is one of three referees to show two red cards in a single game. The double came in Manchester United&#8217;s win over Chelsea in September, which saw both sides reduced to 10 men. One was a straight red, while the other was for two yellow cards. He&#8217;s also the only referee to show four red cards across the campaign. Bankes has shown 87 cards overall, but he still averages a middle-of-the-table 5.3 fouls per card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-thomas-bramall-5-3-fouls-per-card\">Thomas Bramall (5.3 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>17<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>368<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>5<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>69 (68 yellow, 1 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thomas Bramall is another to enjoy handing out penalties. He went through a run of giving five penalties in seven games &#8212; including two streaks of back-to-back matches. That&#8217;s not to say there&#8217;s anything wrong with that. Bramall has shown 69 cards in total with just one red, and averages four cards per match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-jarred-gillett-5-3-fouls-per-card\">Jarred Gillett (5.3 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>17<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>345<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>5<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>65 (64 yellow, 1 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jarred Gillett has awarded five penalties in the Premier League this season. That includes two in a single game. During that game, though, Gillett only showed two yellow cards. Although he does have an eight-card match on his books this season, Gillett has shown two or fewer cards in five of his 17 Premier League games this season. That&#8217;s despite averaging just 20.29 fouls per match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-samuel-barrott-5-2-fouls-per-card\">Samuel Barrott (5.2 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>17<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>333<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>6<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>63 (62 yellow, 1 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Samuel Barrott has actually awarded the second-most penalties in the Premier League this season. He&#8217;s given six so far, including two penalties in a single game. That came in Brentford&#8217;s 3-1 win over Burnley, though neither of his two yellow cards that day were for the penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-matt-donohue-5-2-fouls-per-card\">Matt Donohue (5.2 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>79<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>15 (15 yellow, 0 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Matt Donohue has overseen three Premier League games so far this season. And he&#8217;s awarded a penalty in two of them. In fact, Donohue has awarded a penalty in three of his five Premier League matches as a referee. He also showed six yellow cards in Wolves&#8217; defeat to Brentford just before Christmas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-anthony-taylor-5-1-fouls-per-card\">Anthony Taylor (5.1 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>22<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>444<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>4<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>86 (84 yellow, 2 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anthony Taylor has shown more cards than any other referee in the Premier League this season. He&#8217;s also refereed more games than anyone else. So he averages 3.9 cards per game, which isn&#8217;t by any means the worst. It&#8217;s the same for fouls. He ranks second for his 444 fouls awarded, but that averages out to 5.1 per card. Taylor has also awarded four penalties this season, including two in one game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-darren-england-5-1-fouls-per-card\">Darren England (5.1 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>18<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>391<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>73 (70 yellow, 3 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Darren England has scored six yellow cards in a single game on four occasions in the Premier League so far this season. That includes a game with five yellows and one red &#8212; and he awarded a penalty in that match too! But England sits around the lower end of the pack for leniency. It does seem to be a case of what day you catch him on. Although that seems to be the case with a lot of referees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-michael-salisbury-5-1-fouls-per-card\">Michael Salisbury (5.1 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>9<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>212<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>7<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>41 (41 yellow, 0 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michael Salisbury has only refereed nine Premier League games this season. But he has awarded more penalties than any other referee (seven). He gave three of those in West Ham United&#8217;s 2-2 draw with Brighton &#8212; a game in which he also showed eight cards. In his very next match, Salisbury awarded two penalties. He&#8217;s shown at least four cards in seven of his nine games. But Salisbury still averages 5.1 fouls per card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-thomas-kirk-5-1-fouls-per-card\">Thomas Kirk (5.1 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>77<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>1<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>13 (10 yellow, 3 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thomas Kirk has sent off three players in the Premier League this season. That&#8217;s despite the fact he&#8217;s only refereed three matches. All three of the sendings off came in games involving Wolverhampton Wanderers. Kirk showed a straight red card to Michael Keane for pulling Tolu Arokodare after VAR review, then booked Jack Grealish twice in quick succession &#8212; both for dissent. He then sent of Wolves&#8217; Ladislav Krejci for two yellow cards against Crystal Palace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-robert-jones-4-9-fouls-per-card\">Robert Jones (4.9 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>15<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>310<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>4<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>63 (63 yellow, 0 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Robert Jones is becoming one of the more-used referees in the Premier League, with 15 matches so far in 2025-26. He&#8217;s pretty consistent in terms of his decisions, with at least three yellow cards in 13 matches. Jones has shown four penalties this season, including two in Chelsea&#8217;s 2-2 draw with Leeds United &#8212; one for each side. But he is also yet to show a red card this season, the referee with the most games without sending a player off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-john-brooks-4-9-fouls-per-card\">John Brooks (4.9 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>10<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>208<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>4<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>41 (38 yellow, 3 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">John Brooks has shown three red cards this season, with two coming in one game. He showed eight cards in Tottenham Hotspur&#8217;s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool in December, with six yellows and two reds. Both went to Tottenham with Xavi Simons sent off for a foul on Virgil van Dijk and Cristian Romero booked twice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-paul-tierney-4-9-fouls-per-card\">Paul Tierney (4.9 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>5<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>93<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>1<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>19 (19 yellow, 0 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It may be a surprise to see that Paul Tierney has only refereed five Premier League games this season. He&#8217;s shown at least three cards in four of his five games, with one penalty. And Tierney has proven to be pretty harsh at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-stuart-attwell-4-5-fouls-per-card\">Stuart Attwell (4.5 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>18<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>383<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>6<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>84 (82 yellow, 2 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stuart Attwell is known for being quick to a card. And he&#8217;s the harshest referee in the Premier League this season, among those with more than one game. He&#8217;s awarded six penalties and sent two players off, alongside his 82 yellow cards. At just 4.5 fouls per card, he&#8217;s comfortably the harshest official with more than one game under his belt this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-lewis-smith-4-fouls-per-card\">Lewis Smith (4 fouls per card)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Games: <\/strong>1<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fouls: <\/strong>24<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties awarded: <\/strong>0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cards: <\/strong>5 (4 yellow, 1 red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lewis Smith took charge of his first-ever Premier League match as Chelsea drew 1-1 with Burnley in February. It was not without incident, as he sent off Wesley Fofana for two yellow card offences in a match where the Clarets equalised deep into second-half stoppage time.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3><strong>Read more:<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/\"><strong>Latest football news<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/bet\/football-tips\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Football betting tips<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/bet\/betting-sites\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Best betting sites<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/bet\/betting-sites\/best-free-bet-offers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Best free bet offers<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/bet\/football-tips\/accumulator\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Football accumulator tips<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Refereeing. It&#8217;s not an easy job. Depending on which group of fans you ask, every referee is either biased for or against certain teams. Some are also known to be stricter than others. There are referees you don&#8217;t want in charge of your team, and there are some you might enjoy. The question is, who&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":1435605,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"%%title%%","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Some Premier League fans feel certain referees are harsher to their teams than others. But who is the strictest referee this season?","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"features-category":[],"squawka-category":[],"class_list":["post-1340370","features","type-features","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"external_featured_image_url":"","hide_featured_image_pattern":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.0 (Yoast SEO v28.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Premier League referee stats: Officials ranked by fouls per card<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some Premier League fans feel certain referees are harsher to their teams than others. But who is the strictest referee this season?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Premier League referee stats: Officials ranked by fouls per card\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some Premier League fans feel certain referees are harsher to their teams than others. But who is the strictest referee this season?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Squawka | EN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SquawkaFootballNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-06T11:59:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2024\/02\/27141544\/premier-league-referee-leniency-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@squawka\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/features\\\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/features\\\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Harry Edwards\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4e62e4b7416dff4a81adf12d6340823d\"},\"headline\":\"Premier League referee stats: Officials ranked by fouls per card\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-06T11:59:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-06T11:59:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/features\\\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1851,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/features\\\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media.squawka.com\\\/images\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27141544\\\/premier-league-referee-leniency-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Features\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/features\\\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/features\\\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\\\/\",\"name\":\"Premier League referee stats: Officials ranked by fouls per card\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/features\\\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/features\\\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media.squawka.com\\\/images\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27141544\\\/premier-league-referee-leniency-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-06T11:59:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-06T11:59:19+00:00\",\"description\":\"Some Premier League fans feel certain referees are harsher to their teams than others. But who is the strictest referee this season?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/features\\\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/features\\\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/features\\\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media.squawka.com\\\/images\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27141544\\\/premier-league-referee-leniency-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media.squawka.com\\\/images\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/27141544\\\/premier-league-referee-leniency-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1440,\"caption\":\"Premier League referee stats: Officials ranked by fouls per card\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/features\\\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Squawka\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Features\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/features\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Premier League referee stats: Officials ranked by fouls per card\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Squawka | EN\",\"description\":\"Football News, Stats, and More...\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4e62e4b7416dff4a81adf12d6340823d\",\"name\":\"Harry Edwards\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e0026fa9c4643646cbd6cb2bfceaaec1552223b05885c8c1ea9b98ffcc00c20f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e0026fa9c4643646cbd6cb2bfceaaec1552223b05885c8c1ea9b98ffcc00c20f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e0026fa9c4643646cbd6cb2bfceaaec1552223b05885c8c1ea9b98ffcc00c20f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Harry Edwards\"},\"description\":\"Harry Edwards has been writing for Squawka since 2017, producing match content, betting tips, news, features, quizzes and a lot more. He has additional focus on women's football, FPL and FIFA\\\/EAFC. Harry is a Chelsea fan and also has an interest in tennis and darts.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/harryedwards16\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/author\\\/harry-edwards\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Premier League referee stats: Officials ranked by fouls per card","description":"Some Premier League fans feel certain referees are harsher to their teams than others. But who is the strictest referee this season?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Premier League referee stats: Officials ranked by fouls per card","og_description":"Some Premier League fans feel certain referees are harsher to their teams than others. But who is the strictest referee this season?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/","og_site_name":"Squawka | EN","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SquawkaFootballNews\/","article_modified_time":"2026-03-06T11:59:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1440,"url":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2024\/02\/27141544\/premier-league-referee-leniency-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@squawka","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/"},"author":{"name":"Harry Edwards","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/4e62e4b7416dff4a81adf12d6340823d"},"headline":"Premier League referee stats: Officials ranked by fouls per card","datePublished":"2026-03-06T11:59:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-06T11:59:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/"},"wordCount":1851,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2024\/02\/27141544\/premier-league-referee-leniency-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Features"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/","url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/","name":"Premier League referee stats: Officials ranked by fouls per card","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2024\/02\/27141544\/premier-league-referee-leniency-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-06T11:59:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-06T11:59:19+00:00","description":"Some Premier League fans feel certain referees are harsher to their teams than others. But who is the strictest referee this season?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2024\/02\/27141544\/premier-league-referee-leniency-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2024\/02\/27141544\/premier-league-referee-leniency-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1440,"caption":"Premier League referee stats: Officials ranked by fouls per card"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/premier-league-referees-ranked-leniency\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Squawka","item":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Features","item":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Premier League referee stats: Officials ranked by fouls per card"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/","name":"Squawka | EN","description":"Football News, Stats, and More...","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/4e62e4b7416dff4a81adf12d6340823d","name":"Harry Edwards","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e0026fa9c4643646cbd6cb2bfceaaec1552223b05885c8c1ea9b98ffcc00c20f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e0026fa9c4643646cbd6cb2bfceaaec1552223b05885c8c1ea9b98ffcc00c20f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e0026fa9c4643646cbd6cb2bfceaaec1552223b05885c8c1ea9b98ffcc00c20f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Harry Edwards"},"description":"Harry Edwards has been writing for Squawka since 2017, producing match content, betting tips, news, features, quizzes and a lot more. He has additional focus on women's football, FPL and FIFA\/EAFC. Harry is a Chelsea fan and also has an interest in tennis and darts.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/harryedwards16"],"url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/author\/harry-edwards\/"}]}},"yoast_title":"%%title%%","yoast_description":"Some Premier League fans feel certain referees are harsher to their teams than others. But who is the strictest referee this season?","yoast_keyword":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/features\/1340370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/features"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/features"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/features\/1340370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1435605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1340370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1340370"},{"taxonomy":"features-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/features-category?post=1340370"},{"taxonomy":"squawka-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/squawka-category?post=1340370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}