Premier League make Newcastle United official decision ahead of 2024-25 season opener v Southampton

Craig Pawson will be the referee for the match at St James’ Park on Saturday (3pm kick-off). Pawson’s last match refereeing Newcastle was the 3-0 victory at Sunderland in the FA Cup back in January.

Pawson let a last-man Dan Ballard challenge on Alexander Isak go unpunished with no VAR in place to intervene before awarding The Magpies a penalty late in the match after Ballard fouled Anthony Gordon. The referee’s last Premier League match in charge of Newcastle was a 1-0 win over Brentford at St James’ Park last September.

That game also saw Pawson award a penalty for a foul on Gordon as Callum Wilson converted from the spot, much to the frustration of Brentford boss Thomas Frank, who claimed it was a ‘mistake’.

Later in the match, Pawson awarded Newcastle a second penalty but later overturned his decision following a VAR check. Wilson also had a goal disallowed by VAR in the match.

Pawson will be assisted by Marc Perry and Mark Scholes with Dean Whitestone as fourth official. Chris Kavanagh will be on VAR duty for the match, assisted by James Mainwaring.

The Premier League have pledged to improve the speed of VAR decision-making and give more power to the referee’s on-field decision for the coming season. Players, coaches and supporters have been told to expect quicker decisions and fewer VAR interventions this coming season as well as ‘near-live’ explanations of VAR calls via X.

Reflecting on the potential improvements to VAR, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe said: “Year on year, you'd like to think the whole process will improve.

“I think speed is important to everybody connected with football because it's a high intensity game, we want it to be a quick game so I welcome that. I do welcome more responsibility for the referees with in-game decision-making.

“They're sensing the game, they're feeling the emotion of the game and they're very much reacting to the moment that they're in so that needs to be respected. A higher threshold for their decision is something I back as well. Of course, you just want to see a better product and more consistently right calls so hopefully this will help.”