Which club does every Premier League referee support? List unveiled as PGMOL publishes conflict of interest policy

The idea of publicly announcing the teams that every Premier League referee supports was raised again on Thursday following comments from Howard Webb.

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• PGMOL reveal conflict of interest policy
• Teams that officials support published
• Six-point plan to improve VAR also explained

• Table of Contents

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL) chief refereeing officer said the protocol the governing body uses to assess a conflict of interest between officials and certain teams will be laid out ahead of the new season after a string of controversial incidents last season.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Most notably, Nottingham Forest complained about the appointment of Stuart Attwell, a Luton Town fan, as a VAR in a game against Everton when all three teams were locked in a relegation fight last term. Forest had three claims for a penalty turned away during the game as they lost 2-0 to the Toffees, resulting in the club published a statement saying they "cannot accept" the decisions and pointing to Attwell's apparent conflict of interest.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Following Webb's declaration that the policy on how to deal with such incidents will be revealed, some are calling for the teams that each official in the top-flight to be made public. has already outlined the teams that some officials are known to support, as well as where they are from and which teams they are kept away from. Here is the list in alphabetical order.

  Referee	Where they're from	Teams they support or are kept away from
  Sam Allison	Chippenham, Wiltshire	Bournemouth are one of the teams he played for, though he refereed them in his first season
  Stuart Attwell	Warwickshire	A known Luton fan
  Peter Bankes	Liverpool	Is kept away from Liverpool and Everton games
  Samuel Barrott	West Riding, Yorkshire	His allegiances are unclear
  Darren Bond	Wigan	Wigan supporter but doesn't officiate Liverpool and Everton matches
  Thomas Bramall	Sheffield	Kept away from Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday matches
  John Brooks	Melton Mowbray	Does not officiate Leicester games
  David Coote	Nottingham	A Notts County fan, he is not involved in Forest matches
  Darren England	Barnsley	Is a Barnsley fan who previously worked for the club
  Sunny Singh Gill	West London	Allegiances unknown
  Jarred Gillett	Queensland, Australia	A Liverpool fan, he does not referee games involving Everton
  Tony Harrington	Hartlepool	Supports Hartlepool and has no Premier League conflict of interest
  Simon Hooper	Swindon	A Swindon Town fan who played in their academy until age 16
  Rob Jones	Merseyside	Not involved in Everton or Liverpool matches
  Chris Kavanagh	Greater Manchester	Supports a non-League team
  Andrew Madley	Huddersfield	Supports League One team Huddersfield
  Robert Madley	Huddersfield	Also supports Huddersfield
  Michael Oliver	Northumberland	A Newcastle fan and does not referee Sunderland games
  Craig Pawson	Sheffield	A Sheffield United fan. Kept away from both United and Sheffield Wednesday matches
  Tim Robinson	West Sussex	It is not clear who he supports but he has officiated every team in the Premier League
  Michael Salisbury	Lancashire	Does officiate Everton or Liverpool games
  Graham Scott	Oxford	A Swindon Town fan and not kept away from any known Premier League teams
  Josh Smith	Peterborough	Has no known conflict of interest in the top-flight but is kept away from Peterborough matches
  Lewis Smith	Wigan	No allegiances are known
  Anthony Taylor	Greater Manchester	No known allegiances
  Paul Tierney	Wigan	Is a Wigan supporter
  Rebecca Welch	Tyne and Wear	Hasn't been in charge of a Newcastle or Sunderland game

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  WHAT NEXT?

  While the PGMOL apparently do not plan on releasing the teams the officials support, Webb did unveil a six-point plan to improve VAR ahead of the 2024-25 campaign. It includes semi-automated offsides as well as a way to clarifying the threshold for VAR to intervene in incidents.

  Meanwhile, the policy on declared allegiances has been published.