Premier League make Fulham v Newcastle United official decision after ‘historic’ Sheffield United moment

The Premier League have revealed that Sam Allison will referee Newcastle United’s clash with Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon. This will be the first time Allison, who made his Premier League bow back in December, has taken charge of a match involving the Magpies.

Allison became the first black referee to take charge of a top-flight game for 15 years when he refereed Luton Town’s clash against Sheffield United at the end of last year - a game that finished 3-2 to the Hatters. Allison will be assisted by Eddie Smart and Nick Greenhalgh with Simon Hooper as fourth official. 

Jarred Gillett will be on VAR duty for Saturday’s fixture - one which the Australian official knows all too well. Gillett refereed their meeting in the FA Cup Fourth Round back in January - one the Magpies won 2-0 courtesy of goals from Sean Longstaff and Dan Burn.

That meeting passed with very little controversy, unlike the reverse fixture in the league between the sides back in December. That match saw Newcastle emerge as comfortable 3-0 winners, however, that only occurred after Fulham were reduced to ten men in the first-half following Raul Jimenez’s foul on Longstaff.

The Mexican, anticipating his opposite number to loft a ball, jumped and attempted to block a pass, only to instead catch Longstaff in the head with his hip. Referee Sam Barrott was advised by VAR to check the decision and he opted to show the former Wolves striker a straight red card.

Speaking post-match, Fulham boss Marco Silva slammed the decision to send off Jimenez as well as the referee’s overall performance: “He lost the momentum to go in but it's not something serious.” Silva said.

“He jumped into the player but you don’t see something serious, something wrong with the other player. A yellow is right. VAR is trying to find all these moments to give. To justify their job? I don’t know. It’s clear he [Jimenez] lost the momentum. He should have done it in a different way. To go for a red card feels really strange. 

“It was a strange afternoon for the referee. I went to speak with him [afterwards] but he almost ran to the dressing room. It’s what we’re facing right now.”