Aston Villa may not be happy with the refereeing appointment for their midweek Premier League clash.placeholder image
Aston Villa may not be happy with the refereeing appointment for their midweek Premier League clash. | Getty Images
The Premier League have announced their refereeing appointments for match week 26
Aston Villa return to Premier League action at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday night and will hope to return to winning ways after three league matches without a win have somewhat halted their title charge.
Unai Emery’s side remain comfortably in third place but may see those below them begin to catch up if victories are not picked up quickly. They are faced with a Seagulls side who have won just one league match in 12 themselves and are sat uneasily in the bottom half of the table.
Aston Villa fans learn refereeing appointment for Brighton clash
The Premier League have announced their refereeing appointments for match week 26, which will take place this midweek with the majority of matches on Wednesday night. Peter Bankes has been named referee for Aston Villa vs Brighton at Villa Park, with Eddie Smart and Blake Antrobus his assistant referees. Sam Allison will be the fourth official, with Tony Harrington on VAR duties and Sian Massey-Ellis as the assistant VAR.
Villa fans may be somewhat unnerved by the appointment of Bankes as referee for the encounter, after an incident in their 1-1 draw at home to West Ham United in the Premier League just over 12 months ago on 26 January 2025.
With the game finely poised heading into the final stages, Edson Alvarez took out Boubacar Kamara as the Villa midfielder looked to start a counter-attack. Despite already being on a booking, referee Bankes opted against brandishing a second yellow card to the Hammers midfielder, to the dismay of the home fans and players – made even more striking by the fact it was his fifth foul of the game and he was substituted moments later.
It was a match remembered for the wrong reasons, as Tyrone Mings was substituted off with a knee injury after a clash with Mohammed Kudus which went unpunished. Villa’s Lucas Digne could also have been sent off for an elbow incident which was dismissed by VAR. But it would be the decision not to send off Alvarez which would steal the headlines.
Villa missed out on Champions League as ex-PL referee admits wrong decision
Considering that Villa ultimately missed out on Champions League football on goal difference last season, the decision by Bankes not to send off Alvarez at Villa Park may have been costly to their season. Up against ten men for the final stages and with the roaring home faithful behind them, that may have been enough to inspire Emery’s side to score a winning goal which would, ultimately, have earnt them Champions League football.
Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett agreed that the decision not to send off Alvarez by Bankes was the wrong one.
He told Football Insider at the time: “Alvarez was very fortunate not to receive a second yellow card. Referee Peter Bankes, from a good position, decided to keep his cards in his pocket.
“It was a foul and I can only assume that the referee was of the opinion it had some element of doubt about stopping a promising attack. It was the referee’s call and of course the VAR under the criteria cannot come in on a yellow card offence. Alvarez, in my opinion, should have seen red.”
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