Premier League appoint referee who privately apologised to Everton months ago for Chelsea game
The Premier League have announced that Thomas Bramall will referee Everton’s clash with Chelsea next weekend.
Everton beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 at Hill Dickinson Stadium last time out and will therefore travel to Stamford Bridge in positive mood.
Everton Women pulled off a huge upset against Chelsea on Sunday and the men’s team will be looking to do something similar next Saturday.
However, David Moyes may raise his eyebrows at confirmation of Bramall‘s appointment for the contest in West London – with Everton’s Premier League record under him certainly not helping matters.
Tom Bramall apologised to Everton over Man United controversy
Everton played out a 2-2 draw with Manchester United during pre-season, in which a number of contentious calls were made.
One of those saw Bramall award an incredibly soft penalty for James Tarkowski’s supposed shove on Amad Diallo.
According to the Liverpool Echo at the time, Bramall apologised to Everton‘s players after the match after accepting he got the decision wrong.
It ultimately did not matter a great deal given it was only a pre-season friendly, but a mistake of that magnitude in a Premier League game would make headlines.
The fact the man in the middle saw the need to say sorry says it all about how badly he got the decision wrong in the first place.
Everton winless in Premier League with Bramall in charge
The Premier League announced the refereeing appointments for the latest gameweek via its official website on Monday.
It will be the sixth Everton game that Bramall has overseen – as many times as he’s officiated the Under-21s, incidentally.
Of those previous five encounters, Everton have won twice – against Mansfield Town in the EFL Cup and against Peterborough United in the FA Cup.
Everton’s results with Tom Bramall as referee:
- 3-0 loss vs Wolves (Premier League, December 2023)
- 0-0 draw vs Everton (Premier League, January 2024)
- 2-0 win vs Peterborough (FA Cup, January 2025)
- 2-0 win vs Mansfield Town (EFL Cup, August 2025)
- 1-1 draw vs Sunderland (Premier League, November 2025)
In the Premier League, however, Everton have drawn against Sunderland earlier this season and Fulham in 2023-24.
Bramall’s other league game in the middle was a 3-0 loss for Everton at Wolves earlier that same campaign, meaning the Toffees are winless in three league games under the 35-year-old.
Fingers crossed that run comes to an end this weekend when Everton make the trip to Stamford Bridge, where they will be well backed by their travelling supporters.
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