West Ham United v Crystal Palace
Premier League, London Stadium, Saturday 18 January 2025, 3pm GMT
Referee: Thomas Bramall
Assistant Referees: Ian Hussin and James Mainwaring
Fourth Official: Oli Langford
VAR: Alex Chilowicz
Assistant VAR: Matthew Wilkes
Tom Bramall has been confirmed as the referee for West Ham United’s Premier League clash at home at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Born in Sheffield, former schoolteacher Bramall was promoted to Select Group One in 2022. He has been taking charge of matches in the English top-flight since the start of the 2022/23 campaign.
In total, he has been the man in the middle 21 times in the Premier League, and two of those games have involved the Hammers - the 3-2 defeat away at London neighbours Brentford in early November 2023 and the 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest in February 2024.
Bramall refereed two West Ham cup games in 2022/23 - a penalty-shootout exit at the third-round stage of the EFL Cup, at home to Blackburn Rovers in November 2022 and a 2-0 win away at Derby County in the fourth round of the FA Cup in January 2023.
He has been the fourth official at seven West Ham matches—including the 2-1 win over Manchester United at London Stadium in October this term.
Earlier in his career, Bramall enjoyed his first Wembley appearance as referee of the 2022 FA Trophy final, which saw Bromley edge out Wrexham in front of over 46,000 fans, and he later gained valuable experience in the Japanese J1 League in March 2023 and as a fourth official in the UEFA Champions League in July 2024.
Ian Hussin and James Mainwaring will be the assistant referees at London Stadium.
Both possess extensive experience in the Premier League, with Hussin serving as a top-flight assistant referee since the 2014/15 campaign, and has worked eleven matches in the division so far this season, including the 2-0 win over the Eagles in the teams’ reverse meeting at Selhurst Park in August and the 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion just before Christmas.
Mainwaring, meanwhile, is a highly experienced assistant and has ample experience in the Premier League, running the line at 15 league matches this season, and has also worked across UEFA European competitions.
Oli Langford will work as the fourth official on Saturday.
Langford works a second West Ham United game of 2025, having also been the fourth official in the Irons' 3-1 Premier League defeat away at Manchester City on 4 January.
Primarily involved in EFL competition, having taken charge of 15 Championship games this term, Langford refereed the most recent of two Hammers clashes against Cheltenham Town in the EFL Cup in 2017.
Finally, Video Assistant Referee duties will be overseen by Alex Chilowicz.
Having relocated from the USA to England late in 2023, the 37-year-old arrived in the country with a wealth of experience, having made his MLS debut in 2017, taking charge of Colorado Rapids against DC United.
In total, over a six-year period, he officiated 237 games in America’s top-flight, while he also acted as the VAR for the MLS All-Star fixture in 2018 and the fourth official in the MLS Cup final in 2020.
The official from New Jersey, who has refereed in EFL League One, League Two and in the EFL Cup in 2024/25, will be involved in a West Ham Premier League game for the second time on Saturday, and he will be assisted by Matthew Wilkes.
