Arne Slot’s Liverpool won the title at a canter; Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea secured top four; Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton were all demoted to the Championship as the curtains were drawn on the 2024/25 Premier League season in May.
The league was wrapped up with four games to go as the aforementioned Slot became the fifth manager in Premier League history to win the title in their maiden season at the helm – but that’s not to say that VAR didn’t have its inconsistencies.
VAR has been a point of contention since its arrival. Season by season, the post-match discussion is dominated by a potentially incorrect decision – rather than a piece of individual pizzazz or a well-worked team goal which changed the game. But the maligned technology is manned by people; most notably, referees.
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The folks over at ESPN have taken a deep dive into each Premier League referee and have counted how many (human!) errors they managed to make in 2024/25. Ranked by their accuracy (how many errors they made in according to last season's Key Match Incidents panel), let’s take a look.
24-19
The suspended David Coote features at No.20
Kicking off with the worst of the bunch – and, interestingly, the six incoming names all manned under 10 matches in the 2024/25 Premier League season and, as such, the small sample sizes made it hard for ESPN to give them an accuracy rating.
Sam Allison made two errors from seven KMIs, while David Webb was never incorrect. Both referees oversaw just two games; as did Andrew Kitchen, who also made zero errors from four KMIs. Josh Smith, who took charge of three games, made one error.
Before being sacked by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PMGOL), David Coote’s record was flawless – from six matches and 12 KMIs, he made zero errors. Lewis Smith rounds off the category after making three errors from 19 KMIs.
Every Premier League Ref Ranked from Worst to Best – 24-19
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18-13
Category includes Stuart Attwell and Craig Pawson
In 18th, Darren Bond – who is a fan of Wigan Athletic – made nine errors in total last season, which took his accuracy rate to 75.68% as he was involved in 37 KMIs. Tim Robinson and Robert Jones then follow with the same rate of 81.40%. Interestingly, they pair endured the same number of errors and KMIs.
The seasoned Stuart Attwell is widely regarded as one of the best referees in the Premier League – but his below-par accuracy rate could be a point of concern. Across 19 matches, he made seven errors from 38 KMIs, thus racking up a success rate of 81.58%.
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FIFA-listed since 2015, Craig Pawson – who was born and raised in Sheffield – is one of the more established officials in the league. A recognisable face and name, the 46-year-old enjoyed a reasonably successful campaign last time out.
The same can be said for Michael Salisbury, who took charge of 13 Premier League matches from August 2024 and May 2025. In that time frame, he made one less error than Pawson (six vs Pawson’s seven) as he faced an eye-catching 37 KMIs.
Every Premier League Ref Ranked from Worst to Best – 18-13
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12-7
All six referees sit below the 90% accuracy rate
Former official Keith Hackett called for Chris Kavanagh to be reviewed after his performance during Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Chelsea after he didn’t send off Wesley Fofana. Altogether, the 39-year-old made six errors in 25 matches – equating to an accuracy rate of 84.21%
Despite Sam Barrott, who was born in 1993, being a relatively fresh referee, his accuracy rate of 85.45% is promising. He made eight errors – including the decision to hand James Tarkowski a yellow card instead of a red against Liverpool. You remember it!
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Ranked in ninth and 10th respectively, Thomas Bramall and Andy Madley follow next. The former oversaw 11 matches and, in that time, made three errors from 22 KMIs. The latter, in 20 outings, made six errors in 49 KMIs, equating to a rate of 87.76%.
Liverpudlian Peter Bankes, in the past, has angered Manchester United fans for not showing Solly March his marching orders – and in the 2024/25 season, his decision-making led to five errors being made. Darren England’s 88.89% accuracy rounds off the category.
Every Premier League Ref Ranked from Worst to Best – 12-7
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6-1
Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor make the top five
Tony Harrington and Jarred Gillett – who boasted respective accuracy rates of 89.13% and 92.50% last term – kickstart the crème de la crème. In May 2024, the latter became the first-ever Premier League referee to wear a camera during a match.
As one of the younger referees in the English top flight circuit, 35-year-old John Brooks' promotion to UEFA’s second tier of referees was the highlight of his career thus far. In the Premier League, he made just two errors from 25 KMIs, making him 94.29% accurate.
There’s very little to separate Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor – who are both very well-known officials. The former chalked up three errors from 56 KMIs, which equates to a rate of 94.64%. Just better, the latter’s was 94/74% accurate from start to finish.
The referee with the best accuracy rate when it came to making important decisions during the 2024/25 Premier League campaign was Simon Hooper – an exemplary example of what officiating should look like. He made just three errors in 59 KMIs.
Every Premier League Ref Ranked from Worst to Best – 6-1
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