West Ham United v Leicester City
Premier League, London Stadium, Thursday 27 February 2025, 8pm GMT
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Assistant Referees: Constantine Hatzidakis and Marc Perry
Fourth Official: Rob Jones
VAR: Michael Salisbury
Assistant VAR: Simon Long
Anthony Taylor has been been drafted in as a late replacement for Stuart Attwell and will now referee West Ham United’s Premier League clash at home to Leicester City on Thursday night.
A top-flight referee since 2010, Taylor is one of England’s most experienced officials and has previously taken charge of two FA Cup finals, an EFL Cup final, the FA Community Shield, the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup final, the 2023 UEFA Europa League final and, at international level, the 2021 UEFA Nations League final between France and Spain. In 2020, Taylor became the first referee since 1901 to referee two FA Cup finals when he was in charge of Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Chelsea.
Born in Wythenshawe, Manchester, he worked his way up to the Premier League after starting out in the Northern Premier League - English football’s seventh tier - and since February 2010, when he took charge of a game between Portsmouth and Fulham, Taylor has tallied 394 Premier League matches and counting.
The 46-year-old also famously reacted quickly when Denmark's Christian Eriksen collapsed during his country's UEFA Euro 2020 group-stage tie with Finland, and is credited with helping save the Manchester United midfielder's life due to his swift actions in calling for medical attention.
A veteran of over 750 games in all competitions, Taylor refereed his 39th fixture involving West Ham United against Liverpool in late December, while the Leicester clash will be the 24th Premier League encounter in which Taylor has held the whistle in the 2024/25 season, with his most recent appointment coming in Liverpool's 2-0 win at Manchester City on Sunday 23 February.
Constantine Hatzidakis and Marc Perry have been named as the two assistant referees.
Hatzidakis regularly officiates matches alongside the aforementioned Attwell, and indeed ran the line when the latter held the whistle during West Ham's away game at Chelsea on 3 February, and in the stalemate at home to Everton little under three months earlier.
A veteran of over 30 Hammers fixtures, and over 350 matches in total across domestic, European and international competitions, Hatzidakis has assisted at 19 Premier League games this term.
Perry, meanwhile, has featured as an assistant referee over 300 times in the top flight, including on 14 occasions this season. Indeed, he was involved in the reverse meeting between West Ham and Leicester, at King Power Stadium in December 2024.
Rob Jones will serve as the fourth official.
A referee in the English Football League since 2016, the 37-year-old Merseysider took charge of his first top-flight clash in December 2019, and was promoted to Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) Select Group One ahead of the 2020/21 campaign.
He has previously worked as the fourth official during 16 West Ham games, and as a referee on eight occasions, most recently holding the whistle during December’s 1-1 draw at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Michael Salisbury, who refereed our Premier League fixture at Manchester City in January, is set to oversee Video Assistant Referee duties, and he will be assisted by Simon Long.
