P. Bankes has been appointed referee for Fulham’s Premier League meeting with Manchester United at Craven Cottage on Sunday 20 September 2026. He is joined by assistant referees D. Cook and A. James, with C. Kavanagh named as the fourth official. The official data source does not list a VAR appointment for this fixture, so that detail remains unconfirmed ahead of kick-off.
Official Match Officials Lineup
The confirmed panel for the trip to West London is as follows: P. Bankes as referee, D. Cook and A. James as assistant referees, and C. Kavanagh as fourth official. No VAR official has been named in the official appointments, and supporters should treat that as unconfirmed rather than absent.
United’s away trips to Fulham always draw plenty of interest from the fanbase. Our coverage of the club’s previous trip to Fulham is still worth a look, alongside the player ratings from Craven Cottage and the predicted line-up against Fulham from that visit.
P. Bankes’s Season Statistics
Bankes has taken charge of two Premier League matches in the 2026/2027 season. In those two games, he has shown eight yellow cards and one red card, giving an early snapshot of how strictly he has refereed this term.
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Metric Total Per Match Average
Matches Refereed 2 –
Yellow Cards 8 4.00
Red Cards 1 0.50
Club Records Under P. Bankes
Both clubs have a longer history with Bankes in the middle. Fulham have generally fared well under his refereeing, while United’s record shows more mixed results.
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Club Matches Record (W-D-L)
Fulham 5 4-0-1
Manchester United 6 2-1-3
Fulham have won four of their last five matches refereed by Bankes, losing only once. United have won two, drawn one and lost three of their last six games under him, a record below fifty per cent.
Tactical and FPL Impact
Bankes’s early-season figures point to a referee willing to reach for his cards. An average of four yellows per match across his two outings this term is a firm rate, and one red card in that span shows he is prepared to send players off when needed.
For FPL managers, that card tendency is worth noting when picking defenders or midfielders who are already on thin disciplinary ice. A high-card referee raises the chance of a booking point being lost, even if it does not change the overall likelihood of a clean sheet.
United’s modest record under Bankes, two wins from six, sits alongside Fulham’s stronger four wins from five. These are historical results rather than predictions, and they say nothing about how Sunday’s game at Craven Cottage will be officiated.
Supporters should treat these figures as context rather than certainty. Bankes has refereed only two matches so far this season, a small sample, and his longer record with both clubs reflects a range of different United and Fulham sides over time.
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