Rob Jones will referee Newcastle United's clash against West Ham on Sunday.placeholder image
Rob Jones will referee Newcastle United's clash against West Ham on Sunday. | Getty Images
Newcastle United latest news: West Ham are up next for Eddie Howe’s side in the Premier League.
Newcastle United head to the London Stadium on Sunday searching for back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time this season. The Hammers will enter the weekend in the bottom three and could even be 20th if Wolves defeat Fulham on Saturday.
Eddie Howe’s side won this fixture 1-0 last season courtesy of a Bruno Guimaraes goal. That win came just days before their victory over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final and whilst it was a far from memorable game and a pretty drab affair, it was a hugely important result in their season.
Premier League reveal West Ham v Newcastle United referee appointment
Ahead of Newcastle United’s trip to the London Stadium, the PGMOL have revealed that Rob Jones will take charge of that game. Jones took charge of a memorable meeting between these sides at St James’ Park during the final months of the 2023/24 season.
A seven-goal thriller, eventually won by a superb Harvey Barnes strike, was littered with controversial refereeing decisions, including the awarding of two penalties for the hosts after fouls on Anthony Gordon.
However, the Magpies were also aggrieved when Jones allowed the visitors to take a quick free-kick and then score, through Mohammed Kudus, despite Fabian Schar lying on the ground holding his head. This weekend, Jones will be assisted by Neil Davies and Nick Greenhalgh.
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Peter Bankes has been named as fourth official for Sunday’s game also. Bankes was the man in charge of their late win over Fulham in the Premier League at the weekend - one that saw Bruno Guimaraes net a 90th minute winner to vanquish Marco Silva’s side.
Whilst that was a largely tame and uncontroversial affair, Bankes still felt the ire of many Magpies fans after he opted against awarding a string of fouls for what most supporters perceived as overly physical play from Calvin Bassey and Issa Diop on striker Nick Woltemade.
The German international was visibly unhappy with Bankes’ decision not to penalise his opponents on a number of occasions and, reflecting on that match, Howe revealed that he was surprised that Bankes didn’t give more free-kicks to his team: “There were one or two, looking at the weekend, that I think were fouls that weren't given,” Howe said.
“I think that's fair to say and I think Nick felt the same way. But I think Nick is going to have to come up against all sorts of different challenges from defenders, however they see best to defend against him.
“Some might go aggressive, some might go a little bit more withdrawn and he needs to find a solution to figure out how best to play against that, and we'll help him with that.
“I think he's going to face a lot of different challenges this season because it’s all new to him, but I think that will be a learning experience, the Fulham game, for him."
VAR will be operated by Paul Howard and he will be assisted by Lee Betts at Stockley Park.
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