Premier League Referee Salaries 2023/24
Ardfern, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Most sports enthusiasts are well-aware that football players are paid eye-watering weekly salaries, with some players in the Premier League earning up to £400,000 per week without bonuses. Besides the 22 players that play each football match, referees also take to the pitch, but many fans wonder, how much do Premier League referees get paid?
In this detailed article, we explore Premier League referee salaries in full for the 2023/24 season. We discuss the salaries of referees, assistant referees and VARs, as well as the bonuses they receive after each match. Read on to learn all about this topic.
Table of Contents
How Much Are Premier League Referee Salaries?
For the 2023/24 season, Premier League referee salaries will be anywhere from £70k to £100k+ without bonuses. Referees who put in the best performances and have the most experience will have the highest salaries.
When discussing Premier League referee salaries, it’s worth discussing salaries based on the different roles referees play within a football match. There are three key roles within refereeing, and they are referees, assistant referees and video assistant referees (VARs).
Premier League Referee Salary
Each season, there are roughly 20 referees that officiate Premier League matches. Referees are responsible for the on-field decisions and there is only one official referee that runs around with the players on the pitch for 90 minutes.
For the 2023/24 season, the following referees will be officiating in Premier League matches:
| Referee | Years of Premier League Experience |
| Stuart Attwell | 15 |
| Anthony Taylor | 14 |
| Michael Oliver | 13 |
| Craig Pawson | 10 |
| Graham Scott | 9 |
| Paul Tierney | 9 |
| Simon Hooper | 8 |
| Chris Kavanagh | 7 |
| David Coote | 6 |
| Andy Madley | 5 |
| Tim Robinson | 4 |
| Darren Bond | 4 |
| Robert Jones | 4 |
| Peter Bankes | 4 |
| Darren England | 3 |
| Jarred Gillett | 2 |
| Michael Salisbury | 2 |
| John Brooks | 2 |
| Tony Harrington | 1 |
| Tom Bramall | 1 |
Being one of the main referees in the Premier League, means that you’ll receive the highest Premier League referee salary, in comparison to assistant referees and VARs. Each Premier League referee will earn a base salary of £70k, with some of the more experienced referees including Michael Oliver earning £100k+. On top of this, referees earn a bonus of £1,500 after each match.
Premier League Assistant Referee Salary
In each Premier League match, there are two assistant referees working alongside the main referee. They are responsible for calling offsides, fouls and when the ball has gone out of play, and they hold an offside flag, running along the sideline of one of the halves of the pitch.
A Premier League assistant referee salary is £30k a year plus a bonus of £850 per match, so they can earn anywhere between £50-60k per season.
Premier League VAR Salary
The final Premier League referee salary left to discuss is the VAR salary. In the modern game, video technology is used to help referees make the right decisions, and this requires VARs to be located at a neutral location away from the stadiums by a dedicated officiating team.
A VAR salary is £30k a year plus a bonus of £850 per match, so they can earn anywhere between £50-60k per season. This is the same financial package as what assistant referees receive.
What Factors Affect a Premier League Referee’s Salary?
To fully understand why referees are paid so much, it’s worth exploring what factors affect a Premier League referee’s salary. The key factors that decide how much each official receives are how much experience they have, how well they perform and which role they are doing.
Experience
The first factor that determines how much a Premier League referee gets paid is experience. A referee that has only just been called up to officiate Premier League matches is most likely to earn the base salary of £70k, a good example of this is Tom Bramhall, who only started officiating Premier League matches in the 2022/23 season, giving him one year of Premier League experience.
On the other hand, a referee like Michael Oliver, who has been officiating Premier League matches for 13 years, will earn a much larger salary. Michael Oliver’s salary is likely to be more than £100k without bonuses and pushing more towards the £200k figure.
Famous English referee Mike Dean, who retired following the conclusion of the 2020/21 Premier League season, was reportedly the highest earning English referee at the time, earning £200k per year excluding bonuses.
Performance
Like any job, referees will be rewarded with a higher salary for good performance. Referees are marked on a variety of metrics, and this helps the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) track who is performing well, and who isn’t.
Michael Oliver was one of the youngest referees to ever start officiating in the Premier League, and he has gone on to referee some of the biggest matches in world football, because of his good performances. These matches include the quarter-final of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, where Brazil lost to Croatia on penalties.
On the other hand, there have been calls for some referees to get the boot from the Premier League following a bad run of performances. One example of this is Graham Scott, although he’s just about managed to hang on to his place in England’s refereeing elite.
Referees who perform well will be given more games to officiate, as well as bigger matches, and this correlates with the salary they’ll receive. If they’re consistently able to control games well, and on the biggest stages, they’ll be rewarded for it handsomely.
Role
As discussed, the role in which a referee performs is also reflective of the salary they receive. This is the hierarchy of salaries when comparing different refereeing roles, not taking into account length of experience and quality of performance:
| Role | Salary |
| Referee | £70k base salary + £1,500 match bonus |
| Assistant Referee | £30k base salary + £850 match bonus |
| Video Assistant Referee (VAR) | £30k base salary + £850 match bonus |
Do Premier League Referees Get Paid Bonuses?
On top of their salaries, Premier League referees get paid bonuses after every match they officiate in. Like Premier League referee salaries, bonuses vary based on the role that the referee is doing, e.g. referee, assistant referee or VAR.
Referee Bonuses
Premier League referees are paid a bonus of £1,500 after each match.
Assistant Referee Bonuses
Premier League assistant referees are paid a bonus of £850 after each match.
VAR Bonuses
Premier League VARs are paid a bonus of £850 after each match.
Why Do Premier League Referees Get Paid So Much?
Now let’s explore the reasons why Premier League referees get paid so much. There are many factors that justify their seemingly high wages, and these include intense pressure, fan backlash, difficult of the job and status of the league.
Intense Pressure
Firstly, Premier League referees have to deal with an intense amount of pressure whenever they officiate a football match. This is because there is a lot of responsibility on their shoulders, and they have a significant amount of influence over the final result.
They face pressure from the players, managers, fans and wider audience, and this kind of pressure isn’t for the faint-hearted. This is a key reason why they are paid such an attractive salary, because there’s not many people who can handle this kind of pressure on a regular basis.
Fan Backlash
Another reason why Premier League referees are paid so much is because of fan backlash. Each time they make a decision, it’s highly likely that a percentage of the crowd is going to be upset as the decision will go against them. Because of the nature of the job, referees face lots of backlash and an incredible amount of criticism.
There have been several reports of referees receiving death threats in the mail, and this can lead them to fear for their safety and the safety of their families. It’s this kind of hostile working environment, which means that Premier League referees are paid such high salaries.
Difficulty of Job
Let’s not beat around the bush here, being a referee is tough. The pace in which Premier League football is played, means that referees have to make really important split-second decisions. They have to follow lots of rules, stay out of the way of play, but also keep up with it, meaning they need to be physically fit.
Furthermore, players will make it harder for referees to make decisions through diving and appealing. This is to try and influence their decision-making. All of these factors have to be considered to try and understand just how difficult a Premier League referee’s job is, and why they are subsequently paid well for their duties.
Status of League
The final factor to discuss when understanding why Premier League referee’s salaries are high, is the status of the league they’re officiating. The Premier League is the biggest footballing league in the world, and what comes with that status is money, and lots of it.
Premier League players are paid lucrative salaries, Premier League clubs cost a lot to buy and clubs charge high prices for tickets and merchandise. With all the money involved in football, it’s hardly surprising to learn that referees also get paid high salaries. Some would even argue that they should be paid more than they currently are.
Conclusion
Premier League referees have an extremely difficult job officiating one of the most intense and popular leagues on the planet. They have to deal with a significant amount of pressure each match day, as well as the wrath of different sets of fans, and this means that they’re paid an impressive salary each year.
For fans, it’s easy to say that a referee’s job is simple, especially with the use of VAR in the modern game, however that’s not quite the reality. They have to be focused, physically fit, unbiased and mentally strong.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who Is the Highest Paid Referee in Football?
Mateu Lahoz is the highest paid referee in football. A Spanish referee in La Liga, he earned a figure of around 335,000 euros at the end of the 2022/23 season.
Which Sport Has the Highest Paid Referees?
Basketball has the highest paid referees in sport, with the average salary of an NBA referee being $375,000. Some high-profile NBA referees reportedly earn up to $550,000 with the possibility of earning more through play off matches.
