Howard Webb spent a number of years as a Premier League referee before taking on his current role as PGMOL chief and has spoken about top-flight officials’ salaries

PGMOL chief Howard Webb has shed light on the six-figure salaries earned by Premier League referees. Some of the top officials bring in as much as £250,000 per year thanks to duties outside the English top flight, though others rake in about half that.

Some 22 different referees have taken charge of at least one Premier League match this season. The number includes David Coote, who was sacked by the PGMOL in December after officiating seven matches earlier in the season.

Webb provided numbers to a meeting of the 72 EFL clubs, per a report from The Times. He is understood to have told them the base salary for Premier League refs ranges from £72,000 to £148,000, depending on each official’s relative experience and seniority.

The officials also earn performance bonuses and match fees, meaning the average per season is estimated to be somewhere between £170,000 and £180,000. All Select Group 1 referees are understood to make anywhere from £125,000 to £250,000, while three from outside Select Group 1 – Sam Allison, Josh Smith and Lewis Smith – have also officiated Premier League games this term.

Those at the higher end of the scale have seen their pay boosted by UEFA and FIFA responsibilities. Michael Oliver, Anthony Taylor and Chris Kavanagh have all taken charge of Champions League games this term, with Kavanagh doing so for the first time in his career when he was on duty for Slovan Bratislava vs VfB Stuttgart in the league phase.

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Webb, who officiated the 2010 World Cup final in addition to a lengthy career across English and European competitions, has been vocal about contentious decisions this season. Many of his comments have come on the Match Officials Mic’d Up, where he spoke about a Myles Lewis-Skelly red card during Arsenal vs Wolves which was later overturned.

“From the outset, we would prefer a yellow card in this situation,” Webb said after Michael Oliver showed the youngster a straight red. He added: “We know that for serious foul play, we need excessive force or brutality and what we see here is that high contact [just] glancing and coming off the leg quite quickly.”

Premier League referees are no longer permitted to take charge of league games overseas. They had previously been allowed to boost their income with fees, with Oliver reportedly paid £3,000 to take charge of a Saudi Pro League match in 2023.

In September 2024, however, The Times reported that refs had been “effectively stopped” from the lucrative gigs. Oliver, Darren England and Dan Cook had been on duty in the UAE – with PGMOL approval – less than 48 hours before England and Cook were at the centre of an error during Liverpool’s Premier League defeat at Tottenham.

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