Premier League Referee Salary: 21 People, £250k Ceiling
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The entire Premier League is officiated by 21 people.
They form Select Group One, employed full-time by PGMOL on a basic salary of £72,000 to £148,000, plus a match fee of around £1,116 and extra payments for VAR duty. Most senior referees end the season on £170,000 to £180,000. The best-known reach about £250,000.
| Referees in Select Group One | 21 |
| Basic salary | £72,000 – £148,000 |
| Match fee | ~£1,116 |
| Typical senior total | £170,000 – £180,000 |
| Top earners | ~£250,000 |
| Assistant referees, average | £110,000 |
Twenty-one people, 380 matches
That is the number worth sitting with. A 380-match season, plus cup competitions, VAR appointments and international duty, covered by a squad of 21 referees.
It explains something people complain about without understanding: the same officials appear again and again because there is almost nobody else. A referee officiating 25 to 30 games a season is not being favoured — that is simply the arithmetic of dividing the fixture list by 21.
It also explains the pay structure. A match fee of £1,116 across 25 to 30 appointments is roughly £28,000 to £33,000, which sits on top of the basic salary rather than replacing it.
The scrutiny-to-pay ratio
The comparison is stark, and it is the point of this page.
| Role | Reported annual pay |
|---|---|
| Pep Guardiola, Manchester City | ~£20m |
| Diego Simeone, Atlético Madrid | ~€35m |
| Top Premier League referee | ~£250,000 |
| Select Group One assistant | ~£110,000 |
The best-paid referee in English football earns roughly one-eightieth of Guardiola’s reported salary — see our guide to the highest paid football managers — and less than a fortnight’s wages for a well-paid Premier League player.
No one in the game is examined more closely per pound earned. Every significant decision is replayed, frozen, and discussed on national broadcast within seconds, by people earning multiples of the person who made it.
Why PGMOL pays them, not the league
Referees are employed by Professional Game Match Officials Limited, not by the Premier League and not by clubs.
That structure is the basis of their independence. A referee whose salary came from the competition whose matches they officiate, or worse from a club, would face an obvious conflict. PGMOL sitting between the two is a governance arrangement rather than an administrative convenience.
It is also why referee pay does not track the league’s revenue. The Premier League’s clubs receive money that has grown enormously — UEFA alone will distribute €2.437 billion to clubs across the Champions League in 2026/27, and eleven of the twenty Premier League clubs are now owned by American investors, as our guide to Premier League owners sets out. Officiating costs have not scaled in the same way.
What is not known
PGMOL does not publish individual salaries. Every figure on this page is reported rather than disclosed.
The ranges are consistent across sources, which gives reasonable confidence in the shape — a basic band, a per-match fee, VAR supplements, and a ceiling around £250,000. What cannot be verified is any individual’s exact pay, and we have named referees only where reporting has done so.
The £110,000 assistant average is the most reliable single figure here, because it was stated publicly by Howard Webb, PGMOL’s chief refereeing officer, rather than inferred.
How referees compare internationally
Premier League officials are generally the best-paid in club football, reflecting the competition’s revenue and the full-time employment model. Many leagues still use part-time referees who hold other jobs, which is the more common arrangement worldwide.
Full-time employment is the substantive difference. A part-time referee fits training, fitness testing, travel and video review around other work; a Select Group One official does it as the job. That is what £72,000 to £148,000 of basic salary buys — availability, not just ninety minutes.
How we checked these numbers
The Select Group One size of 21, the £72,000 to £148,000 basic range, the ~£1,116 match fee, the £170,000 to £180,000 typical senior total and the ~£250,000 ceiling are drawn from Jobs in Football, Futboljobs, Goal and Superprof’s referee earnings coverage. The £110,000 assistant average is attributed to Howard Webb of PGMOL.
PGMOL does not confirm individual pay. These are reported estimates. The comparison to Guardiola’s £20 million uses a reported figure that is itself an estimate, so the “one-eightieth” ratio indicates scale rather than precision.
Review class: seasonal. Recheck each season, and whenever PGMOL or the Premier League comments publicly on officiating budgets.
Frequently asked questions
How much do Premier League referees get paid?+
A basic salary of between £72,000 and £148,000 depending on experience and seniority, plus a match fee of around £1,116 and additional payments for VAR duty. A senior referee officiating 25 to 30 games a season typically earns £170,000 to £180,000 in total.
Who are the highest paid Premier League referees?+
The most established officials, reported to include Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor, can reach around £250,000 a year. That reflects a higher basic salary plus a larger number of appointments, including VAR duty and international fixtures.
How many Premier League referees are there?+
Twenty-one. They form Select Group One, employed full-time by Professional Game Match Officials Limited. Twenty-one people officiate the whole competition, which is why individual referees appear so frequently and attract so much scrutiny.
How much do Premier League assistant referees earn?+
An average of about £110,000, according to Howard Webb, PGMOL's chief refereeing officer. That is for Select Group One assistants, who are also full-time and travel to the same fixtures as the referees.
Who pays Premier League referees?+
Professional Game Match Officials Limited, known as PGMOL, which is the body responsible for match officials in English professional football. Referees are employed by PGMOL rather than by the Premier League or by individual clubs, which is the structural basis of their independence.
Are referee salaries officially published?+
No. PGMOL does not publish individual pay, so every figure in circulation is a reported estimate rather than a confirmed salary. The ranges are consistent across sources, but they should be treated as well-sourced journalism rather than disclosed accounts.
How does referee pay compare with players and managers?+
It is a fraction of both. The best-paid referee's roughly £250,000 is about one-eightieth of Pep Guardiola's reported £20 million, and less than a fortnight's wages for a well-paid Premier League player. Refereeing is the most scrutinised job in the game and among the least well paid within it.
Sources
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