West Ham United v Manchester City
Premier League, London Stadium, Saturday 31 August 2024, 5.30pm BST
Referee: Michael Oliver
Assistant Referees: Stuart Burt and Dan Cook
Fourth Official: James Bell
VAR: Darren England
Assistant VAR: Simon Bennett
Michael Oliver has been named the referee for West Ham United’s Premier League match at home to Manchester City.
Born in Ashington, Northumberland, Oliver was introduced to refereeing by his father, Clive, at the age of 14 and became the youngest referee to officiate at Wembley Stadium when he took charge of the 2007 Conference National play-off final, aged just 22.
He had already become the youngest Football League assistant referee, youngest Football League referee, and would also become the youngest fourth official in the Premier League, taking charge of Birmingham’s top-flight game against Blackburn in 2010/11 when he was 25.
Oliver has refereed two FA Cup finals, the 2018 final between Chelsea and Manchester United and 2021 final between Chelsea and Leicester City, and also took charge of Liverpool and Manchester City's meeting in the Carabao Cup final in 2016 as well as the 2014 Community Shield between Manchester City and Arsenal.
The now 39-year-old, who refereed four matches at the UEFA Euro 2024, is taking charge of his first West Ham United match of the season, having officiated the Hammers’ penultimate fixture of the 2023/24 Premier League season at home to Luton Town and the famous 2-0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates last December.
As he was in those two games, Oliver will be assisted by Stuart Burt and Dan Cook at London Stadium.
Burt, like Oliver, got into refereeing through his father and also worked at Euro 2024 alongside Oliver. The 44-year-old has run the line in two Premier League matches so far this season.
Cook, meanwhile, has been a Premier League assistant referee since the 2015/16 season, and has also worked at the same two top-flight games so far this campaign.
James Bell will work as the fourth official. A regular referee in the EFL, Bell took charge of the National League Play-Off final between Harrogate Town and Notts County in 2020, and has since held the whistle in semi-finals of each of the EFL Trophy, FA Trophy, FA Sunday Cup, FA Youth Cup and FA County Youth Cup.
He has taken on the role of fourth official in the Premier League nine times before, most recently during the Hammers’ instantly forgettable 5-2 defeat to Crystal Palace in April.
Finally, Darren England is set to look after Video Assistant Referee duties.
The 38-year-old took on the same role twice last season, in the Irons’ away defeat at Chelsea on 5 May, and the 1-1 home draw against AFC Bournemouth in February. He also refereed the 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Bristol City in January, and the 2-2 home Premier League draw with Burnley in March. England also took charge of four matches in the J-League in Japan in the summer.
