EFL official announcement confirms St James' Park 'first' set to impact Newcastle United v Arsenal

Simon Hooper will be referee for the crucial cup clash at St James’ Park as Newcastle look to see out their 2-0 aggregate lead and progress to the final of the competition at Wembley Stadium next month. Hooper will be assisted by Adrian Holmes and Simon Long with Thomas Bramall as fourth official.

Hooper was last in charge of a Newcastle game back in December as they beat Manchester United 2-0 at Old Trafford. He also recently officiated Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur last month.

John Brooks will be the video assistant referee for the match, assisted by Nick Hopton. Brooks was referee for Newcastle’s previous meeting against Arsenal at St James’ Park as Alexander Isak scored in a 1-0 win for the hosts.

Simon Hooper previous refereeing controversy

Hooper found himself in the middle of one of the biggest refereeing controversies of last season after Tottenham Hotspur's 2-1 win over Liverpool in September 2023. He was the referee for the match that saw Liverpool have Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota sent off as well as a Luis Diaz goal incorrectly disallowed for offside following a major VAR blunder.

VAR Darren England checked the disallowed goal incorrectly announced ‘check complete’ despite Hooper’s on-field decision to disallow the goal.

Spurs went on to claim a last-gasp win courtesy of a 96th-minute Joel Matip own goal. PGMOL admitted errors had been made in the match and there were complaints from then Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp to replay the match, but the result stood.

Both Arsenal and Newcastle will be hoping for no VAR controversy against them when they meet on Wednesday evening.

A VAR first at St James’ Park

VAR is in place in the Carabao Cup from the semi-final onwards meaning it will be the first time the system has been in place for Newcastle in the competition at St James’ Park since the 2-1 semi-final win against Southampton two years ago.

However, there is a further addition to the VAR system in this match, as there was in the first leg at the Emirates Stadium. For the match, in-stadium announcements from the referee will take place following any pitchside monitor visits.

The first-leg didn’t see any such incidents so no stadium announcements took place.

An EFL statement read: "VAR will be in place for this season’s Carabao Cup Semi-Finals, along with the first use of in-stadium VAR announcements in English football. As part of the trial, referees will announce (over the stadium public address system) the final decision following a visit to the VAR pitchside monitor, or upon the conclusion of factual matters such as accidental handball by a goalscorer or offside judgements. Only the final decision will be announced in the stadium.”

Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur

The other Carabao Cup semi-final sees Liverpool host Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield. Spurs hold a 1-0 lead heading into the second leg against the holders.

Craig Pawson will be referee for the match, assisted by Simon Bennett and Daniel Robathan with Darren Bond as fourth official. Michael Salisbury is on VAR duty, assisted by James Mainwaring.

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