Crystal Palace begin the 2025/26 Premier League campaign on Sunday at Stamford Bridge – fresh from winning the Community Shield.
Chelsea take on the south Londoners at 2pm – and both sides will be full of confidence as the Blues also recently won the FIFA Club World Cup.
However, there is reason for Crystal Palace fans to be nervous, after the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) chose Darren England to oversee this Premier League clash.
Darren England has previously irked Crystal Palace fans on several occasions
The 39-year-old has frustrated Crystal Palace supporters so much over the years, that a petition was even created on Change.org in an attempt to prevent him from ever refereeing another match involving the Eagles.
England memorably failed to send Erling Haaland off for kicking Joachim Andersen in the head during a game between Manchester City and Crystal Palace in August 2022 – a match in which he also disallowed a goal from Jordan Ayew for no apparent reason, which would have put the Eagles three goals ahead.
Crystal Palace ended up losing 4-2 following a hat-trick by Haaland.
England also became the first Premier League referee to ignore VAR recommendations and stick with his original decision, when awarding Aston Villa a decisive late penalty in a 3-1 defeat for Crystal Palace at Villa Park in September 2023.
Most recently, the man born in Doncaster caused controversy at Selhurst Park last season when Brentford recorded a 2-1 win in SE25.
England allowed Bryan Mbeumo to retake his penalty after noticing that Marc Guehi – a target for Liverpool – had encroached.
However, the ball was heading straight back to the Cameroon international for him to follow up, which would have been an illegal act anyway. The FA (Football Association) rulebook states: “The kicker must not play the ball again until it has touched another player.”
Therefore, Guehi did not technically prevent Mbeumo – now at Manchester United – from scoring, as a rebounded effort would not have stood.
Overall, Crystal Palace have won just two of their 12 games in which England has officiated.
Chelsea have won two and drawn two of the four games overseen by England.
Darren England broke a rule to allow Chelsea to score last season
To make matters worse, England made a glaring error in favour of Chelsea last term.
Cole Palmer scored early on as the Blues recorded a 6-2 win at Wolves, although the ball was rolling as Robert Sanchez took his goal-kick in the buildup when it ought to have been still, a moment England missed.
Hopefully, the London derby on Sunday can proceed without any further controversy caused by England.