Nottingham Forest v West Ham United
Premier League, City Ground, Saturday 17 February 2024, 3pm GMT
Referee: Tom Bramall
Assistant Referees: Mat Wilkes and Adrian Holmes
Fourth Official: Gavin Ward
VAR: Tim Robinson
Assistant VAR: Derek Eaton
Tom Bramall has been confirmed as the referee for West Ham United’s Premier League clash away at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Born in Sheffield, and a former teacher, 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 last season.
In total, he has been the man in the middle 15 times in the Premier League, though only one of those games has involved the Hammers - the narrow 3-2 defeat away at London neighbours Brentford in early November 2023.
Bramall refereed two West Ham cup games in 2022/23 - a 2-0 win away at Derby County in the fourth round of the FA Cup, and a penalty-shootout exit at the third-round stage of the EFL Cup, at home to Blackburn Rovers.
He has been the fourth official at six West Ham matches - including the 2-0 win over Manchester United at London Stadium just before Christmas this term - and served as Video Assistant Referee during the 1-1 draw at home to Bristol City in the FA Cup last month.
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.
Mat Wilkes and Adrian Holmes will serve alongside Bramall as assistant referees at the City Ground this weekend.
The pair run the line in the Premier League regularly, with Wilkes having appeared as an assistant in the competition over 150 times, and Holmes on close to 250 occasions, both since 2014/15.
In total, Wilkes has been handed assistant duties at 20 West Ham games in all competitions, four games more than Holmes, who joined Bramall at the Manchester United win two months ago.
Fourth official Gavin Ward is yet to referee a Premier League match, but comes with extensive experience in the EFL Championship, League One and League Two, taking charge of Blackburn’s 3-1 win over Stoke City most recently, on 10 February.
He has worked as the fourth official at eight West Ham clashes in all competitions, including the 1-1 draw away at AFC Bournemouth on the opening day of the ongoing 2023/24 season.
Video Assistant Referee duties are set to be overseen by Tim Robinson. After taking charge of the Irons’ Carabao Cup quarter-final trip to Liverpool in December, the West Sussex native refereed his first West Ham Premier League game earlier in February - the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth at London Stadium.
