West Ham United v Brentford
Premier League, London Stadium, Saturday 15 February 2025, 3pm GMT
Referee: Darren England
Assistant Referees: James Mainwaring and Akil Howson
Fourth Official: Stephen Martin
VAR: Graham Scott
Assistant VAR: Nick Greenhalgh
Darren England will referee Saturday’s Premier League derby between West Ham United and Brentford at London Stadium.
The 39-year-old has been part of Professional Game Match Officials Limited’s (PGMOL) Select Group One since the start of the 2020/21 season.
This weekend’s visit of the Bees will mark the seventh occasion England has been the man in the middle for a West Ham fixture.
The first was an EFL Cup defeat at Everton in September 2020, while the most recent was the 2-2 home Premier League draw with Burnley in March 2024. In between, he was the referee for Brentford’s 2-0 Premier League win at London Stadium in December 2022.
England has also acted as fourth official for ten Premier League matches involving the Hammers, and Video Assistant Referee for five, including four this season.
Previously, Doncaster-born England has also refereed the 2017 EFL League Two Play-Off final between Blackpool and Exeter City, in the EFL Championship, FA Cup, EFL Cup and in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Conference League qualifying.
England will be assisted by James Mainwaring and Akil Howson.
Mainwaring has run the line at 20 previous West Ham fixtures, including Brentford’s Premier League wins at London Stadium in October 2021 and December 2022, both of which were refereed by England.
Howson has run the line at more Brentford matches, 28, than those of any other club. He has served as assistant for eight West Ham games, too.
Stephen Martin will serve as the fourth official.
A regular referee in the EFL Championship, Martin has refereed Brentford on 13 previous occasions, and West Ham twice in EFL Cup wins over Accrington Stanley in 2016 and Newport County in 2019. He has also served as the fourth official at nine West Ham matches.
Video Assistant Referee (VAR) duties will be overseen by Graham Scott.
The experienced Oxfordshire official has been part of the Select Group of Referees since 2015, having taken up refereeing in the lower leagues in 1997.
Scott has refereed West Ham on 16 occasions, and this will be the fifth time he has served as VAR at an Irons fixture. He will be assisted at Stockley Park by Nick Greenhalgh.
