Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) is the body responsible for refereeing games in English professional association football.
Formerly known as the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOB), the PGMOL was formed when English referees became professional in 2001, to provide officials for all games played in the Premier League, English Football League (EFL) and Football Association (FA) competitions.[1] In doing so, England became the first country in the world to fully professionalise its referees. The organisation is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee owned and funded by the Premier League, EFL, and the FA.[2] [3]
| Employee | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| Martin Glenn | Chair[4] | |
| Chief Refereeing Officer[5] | ||
| Danielle Every | Chief Operating Officer | |
| Adam Gale-Watts | Technical Director | |
| National Group Director | ||
| Women’s Professional Game Director | ||
| Select Group Women’s Professional Game Manager[6] | ||
| Coaching Director | ||
| Performance Support Director | ||
| Select Group 2 Manager | ||
| Video Assistant Referee Coach[7] | ||
| Select Group 1 Coach[8] | ||
| Referee Coach[9] | ||
| Mike Mullarkey | Head of Assistant Referees[10] | |
| Referee Coach | ||
| Steve Child | Assistant Referee Coach[11] | |
| Head of Community and Public Engagement[12] | ||
| International Referee Development Manager[13] | ||
| Paul Russell | Head of Psychology[14] | |
| Simon Breivik | Head of Fitness and Medical[15] | |
| Referee Coach[16] | ||
| Football Insights Coach | ||
| Football Insights Coach |
The Select Group referees meet twice per month for training sessions and analysis of match videos and data.[2]
The PGMOL have their own sports scientists, sports psychologists, physiotherapists, sprint coaches, podiatrists and vision scientists which mirror football clubs to help improve referee performance.
Every Premier League match is evaluated by a former senior referee to measure the referee's technical performance, along with fellow players and managers (match delegates) who assess accuracy and consistency of their decision making and management of their game to ensure the correct result[2] PGMOL no longer sends evaluators to the match, instead relying solely on video analysis. Some referees in the Select Group have criticized this system, believing it misses critical environmental considerations in game management.[17]
The PGMOL changed its sponsorship for the 2010–11 season from Air Asia to its parent group, Tune Group.
For the 2012–13 season Expedia sponsored the officials,[18] but this agreement ended after a year.
For the start of the 2013–14 Premier League season PGMOL had no sponsor, but part way through the season EA Sports signed a long term agreement which saw their logo on the arms of all officials in the Premier League and EFL until 2019. In 2022, the sponsorship was renewed until the end of the 2024–25 season.[19]
In September 2016, Mark Halsey, a former member and referee, claimed that PGMOL asked him to lie in match reports. PGMOL denied the claim, and no further action was taken.[20] [21]
In 2018, HMRC challenged the employment status of PGMOL appointed referees. The tax authority claimed that referees are employees, not self-employed as PGMOL claimed. The tax tribunals sided with HMRC, but the appellate court reversed, determining that their referees are self-employed.[22] The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom heard the HMRC's appeal on 26 June 2023.[23]
Howard Webb acknowledged the turbulent implementation of Video Assistant Referees (VAR) after he became PGMOL's Chief. He stated that his goal is increased transparency in the VAR process.[24] [25] Such measures includes the introduction of an independent panel consisting of three players, a representative from the Premier League and a PGMOL official to evaluate VAR's performance during the 2022–23 season. The panel found six errors out of 48 decisions in the months before the 2022 FIFA World Cup break.[26] The same panel found just four incorrect interventions in the latter half of the season.[27] In the 2023–24 season, Webb consented to releasing the audio between VAR and on pitch officials for key and controversial calls in a regular TV programme, "Match Officials Mic'd Up".[28] The show airs at the end of every month and features Howard Webb and former footballer Michael Owen discussing the process and addressing errors made by officials for the previous four match weeks. This is an expansion on the special release of VAR audio to address an error made by VAR during the September 30, 2023, match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.
On 11 November 2024, PGMOL suspended referee David Coote after video footage with Ben Kitt emerged in which he made derogatory comments about Liverpool and described Jürgen Klopp as an arrogant "German cunt".[29] [30] [31] According to The Guardian, the "video appears to date from the 2020–21 season".[32] During that season, Coote was the video assistant referee for the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton at Goodison on 17 October, a game which saw Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford go unpunished for what TNT Sports called "a horror tackle" on Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk which resulted in a season-ending injury.[33] Having watched the video, Coote did not call for any action on Pickford, instead focusing on a marginal offside in the buildup to the collision.[34] Coote initially claimed the video was not real,[35] however he later admitted that it was genuine.[36] The Football Association subsequently launched its own investigation into the video due to a potential breach of rule E3.[37] [38]
| 22 February 2020[39] | Tottenham Hotspur | Chelsea | Red card not awarded | VAR did not think the challenge was avoidable. | PGMOL Head of Public Engagement Chris Foy attribute mistake to "human error by video officials" | |
| 17 October 2020[40] | Everton | Liverpool | Red card not awarded | All officials failed to consider all possible sanctions for the conduct. | Head Official Michael Oliver acknowledged that Jordan Pickford should have been sent off for "serious foul play or violent conduct" regardless of how the game resumed otherwise. | |
| 26 February 2022[41] | Manchester City | Everton | Penalty not awarded for handling | VAR deemed insufficient evidence of contact[42] | PGMOL Referees Chief Mike Riley issued an apology to Everton. | |
| 6 November 2022[43] | Aston Villa | Manchester United | Excessive distance on free kick | Head official over-measured the distance and ignored the complaints of players. | PGMOL Select Group 1 Manager Jon Moss assured the centre official would be spoken to. | |
| 7 January 2023[44] | Liverpool | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Onside goal disallowed | VAR did not have access to appropriate camera angles | The centre official allowed the coach to discuss the error before normal protocol would allow and personally apologise. | |
| 29 January 2023[45] | Liverpool | Brighton Hove Albion | Red card not awarded | VAR did not deem the yellow card a clear and obvious error | PGMOL stated that the foul was worthy of a red card. | |
| 11 February 2023[46] | Crystal Palace | Brighton Hove Albion | Onside goal disallowed | VAR incorrectly placed offsides line | Howard Webb issued an apology to Brighton. Referee John Brooks was removed from VAR for two games. | |
| 11 February 2023 | Brentford | Arsenal | Offsides goal allowed | VAR did not fully investigate incident | Howard Webb issued an apology to Arsenal. | |
| 8 April 2023[47] | Tottenham Hotspur | Brighton Hove Albion | Penalty not awarded | VAR did not deem the non-call a clear and obvious error | Chief Refereeing Officer Howard Webb issued an apology to Brighton. | |
| 14 August 2023[48] | Manchester United | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Penalty not awarded | VAR did not deem the non-call a clear and obvious error | Head official and both VAR officials were suspended from further matches. | |
| 30 September 2023[49] | Tottenham Hotspur | Liverpool | Onside goal disallowed | Miscommunication between VAR and on-field officials | Acknowledged the "serious human error" and released the referee audio from the match as well as subsequent matches to indicate new preventative procedures.[50] [51] [52] | |
| 8 October 2023 | Manchester City | Arsenal | Red card not awarded | Error by head official and VAR | Howard Webb admitted it was an error and review policies on officiating foreign games. | |
| 3 December 2023[53] | Tottenham Hotspur | Manchester City | Advantage not played | Error by head official | Howard Webb admitted to an "officiating mistake" by the head official. | |
| 23 December 2023[54] | Arsenal | Liverpool | Penalty not awarded | Error in judgment by head official and VAR | Howard Webb admitted that it was the wrong call and released the VAR audio. | |
| 21 April 2024[55] | Everton | Nottingham Forest | Penalty not awarded | Error in judgment by head official and VAR | Howard Webb admitted that it was the wrong call and released the VAR audio. |