The Premier League has announced the match officials for Saturday’s St. James’ Park fixture between Newcastle United and AFC Bournemouth.
The Premier League match officials for Newcastle United’s Saturday (3pm kickoff) home match against AFC Bournemouth have been confirmed.
The match at St. James’ Park will be officiated by Michael Salisbury. Salisbury reffed Newcastle’s FA Cup loss to Sheffield Wednesday, 2-1, in January of last year.
However, one of the most contentious VAR calls of the 2022–2023 season occurred during his final Premier League game in charge, a 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace at St. James’ Park. Newcastle believed they had taken the lead against Crystal Palace in September 2022 when Tyrick Mitchell put the ball in his own net.
However, Salisbury’s decision to rule out the goal was prompted by Lee Masons VAR intervention because Joe Willock had fouled Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita. Replays demonstrated that Mitchell shoved Willock into Guaita, and a statement from PGMOL afterwards implied that a mistake had been made.
After the game ended in a 0-0 draw, Salisbury was assigned to VAR duty, a role he has played consistently this season, and Mason was benched for the next game weeks. In the second half of Newcastle’s 4–4 home draw with Luton Town, he was VAR and gave The Hatters a penalty.
Salisbury was also relieved of his referee responsibilities once more the previous season following his contentious error as VAR when he failed to give Brighton & Hove Albion a penalty in a 2-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur.
Oli Langford will serve as the fourth official, supporting Salisbury along with Richard West and Akil Howson. Simon Bennett will assist Rob Jones, who will serve as the match’s VAR.
VAR This season, Jones has also been the focus of controversy, with Nottingham Forest filing a formal complaint against the official in response to decisions made during their games. In December, during a 3-2 loss to Bournemouth, Jones dismissed Willy Boly, a defender for Forest, for his second bookable offense.
In August, Jones was also on VAR duty when Manchester United won a late penalty and Joe Worrall was sent off for Forest in a 3-2 loss. Newcastle hopes to make it four games without a loss in the Premier League going into their match against Bournemouth on Saturday.
