Southampton v West Ham United
Premier League, St Mary’s Stadium, Thursday 26 December 2024, 3pm GMT
Referee: Lewis Smith
Assistant Referees: Stuart Burt and Steve Meredith
Fourth Official: James Linington
VAR: Stuart Attwell
Assistant VAR: Richard West
Lewis Smith has been confirmed as the referee for West Ham United’s Boxing Day trip to Southampton in the Premier League.
The Wigan native became just the sixth whistler outside of PGMOL’s (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) Select Group to take charge of a top-flight match last season, following in the footsteps of Sam Allison, Sam Barrott, Bobby Madley, Josh Smith and Rebecca Welch.
The then 30-year-old’s first outing in the division saw Aston Villa beat Fulham 2-1 at Craven Cottage in February, and he has since taken his Premier League tally to five games, most recently overseeing Villa’s 3-1 win over Brentford at the start of this month.
Experienced in the National League and the EFL, Smith’s career began in September 2016 when he took charge of an Under-18 Premier League match between Liverpool and Everton, and he has been on an upward trajectory since refereeing an FA Cup first-round match between Banbury and Canvey Island little over four years ago.
He has never been involved in a senior West Ham United fixture, but has refereed the Hammers’ U21s on two occasions in Premier League 2, as well as Southampton’s first team in the EFL Championship and Carabao Cup.
Stuart Burt and Steve Meredith have been named as the assistant referees for the enticing encounter at St Mary’s.
Both men are highly experienced, with Burt in particular having run the line in over 320 Premier League games, and worked in the UEFA Champions League and at UEFA Euro 2024 and the FIFA 2022 World Cup.
Burt’s most recent of 37 West Ham games saw Manchester City run out 3-1 winners at London Stadium in August, while Meredith - who has assisted in 60 top-flight matches - was among the officials when the Irons earned a 1-1 draw at Fulham in September.
James Linington will serve as the fourth official on Thursday.
An experienced referee across the EFL, Linington has taken charge of three West Ham games - most recently against Sheffield United in the EFL Cup in 2014 - and was last the fourth official for an Irons clash in November 2022, when we fell to Blackburn Rovers on penalties in the same competition.
Experienced official Stuart Attwell is set to oversee Video Assistant Referee duties, and he will be assisted by Richard West.
