West Ham United v Brentford
Premier League, London Stadium, Monday 26 February 2024, 8pm GMT
Referee: Simon Hooper
Assistant Referees: Adrian Holmes and Simon Long
Fourth Official: Tony Harrington
VAR: Michael Oliver
Assistant VAR: Con Hatzidakis
Simon Hooper has been named as the referee for West Ham United’s Premier League clash at home to Brentford on Monday.
Born in Swindon, the 41-year-old began refereeing in The Football League in 2008 and took charge of his first Premier League match in August 2015; a 3-1 win for Crystal Palace at Norwich City.
He was promoted to the Select Group of Referees in 2018, and in total, he has been the man in the middle 13 times in the Premier League this season, most recently refereeing Brentford’s 2-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers in early February.
Hooper has refereed just one West Ham Premier League fixture in 2023/24 - a 2-0 victory over Manchester United in late December 2023, while he also took charge of the Irons’ 3-1 Carabao Cup win over Arsenal the previous month.
He has been fourth official at eight Premier League matches this term, while Hooper – who is on the FIFA International Referees list – was also the fourth official for Union St Gilloise's meeting with Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Europa Conference League – and served as Video Assistant Referee during West Ham’s 1-0 defeat against Everton in October and, more recently, in the 1-1 draw with AFC Bournemouth.
Adrian Holmes and Simon Long will serve as the assistant referees at London Stadium.
Holmes has worked as an assistant referee in 20 Premier League matches this campaign, including the Hammers’ 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest last weekend, and has been a linesman in the top flight since the 2012/13 season.
Long, meanwhile, has worked in the Premier League since the 2009/10 season and has run the line at 19 top flight games this season.
The pair run the line in the Premier League regularly, and were both working as assistants in West Ham’s 2-0 win over Manchester United, where the referee was Hooper.
Fourth official Tony Harrington is one of the newest top flight referees, who was promoted to Select Group one ahead of the 2021/22 season, but comes with extensive experience, having refereed nearly 200 EFL matches.
He has been in charge of three Premier League matches this campaign, while working as the fourth official in 14 games, though none of them have involved the Hammers.
Another experienced Premier League referee is overseeing Video Assistant Referee duties in Michael Oliver, and he will be assisted by Con Hatzidakis.
