Premier League make Newcastle United official decision after Man Utd controversy & Liverpool complaint

The Premier League have confirmed the match officials for Newcastle United’s final day trip to Brentford on Sunday (4pm kick-off).

Simon Hooper will referee the match as Newcastle look to secure European qualification for the second successive season. The Magpies finished fourth in the league last season but can only finish as high as sixth this time around.

Sixth place would guarantee European football but would only happen if Newcastle win and Chelsea lose to Bournemouth. Newcastle currently sit seventh and must at least equal Manchester United’s result against Brighton & Hove Albion to remain in the top seven.

With that comes the hope of European qualification should Manchester City beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final later this month.

Hooper’s previous match refereeing Newcastle actually came against Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-final back in March. City won the game 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium.

Before that, Hooper was in charge of Newcastle’s 4-1 win against Chelsea at St James’ Park back in November. He sent Chelsea’s Reece James off for a second bookable offence, handing the player a one-match ban.

Hooper found himself in the middle of a refereeing controversy earlier in the season after Tottenham Hotspur's controversial 2-1 win over Liverpool back in September. 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.

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 Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp to replay the match, but the result stood. 

Hooper will be assisted by Adrian Holmes and Simon Long with Gavin Ward as fourth official. Paul Tierney will be the VAR for the match, assisted by Natalie Aspinall.

Newcastle head into the match on the back of a frustrating 3-2 defeat at Manchester United on Wednesday night. The match was subject to VAR controversy after Anthony Gordon was denied a first-half penalty following a challenge from Sofyan Amrabat.

After the match, both Gordon and Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe were critical of VAR for not being applied properly in that situation. It came after a motion was proposed for Premier League clubs to vote on the potential scrapping of VAR in the upcoming AGM next month.