How Much Premier League Referees get Paid

Being a Premier League referee is a tough gig. There aren’t many jobs in the world where you’re likely to be abused by tens of thousands of people. And that’s just when you’re in your ‘office’ trying to do your job.

Fail to meet an impossible standard of perfection, and you can expect to make newspaper headlines the following day. That’s not to mention all the social media abuse from fans and pundits alike in the coming days as they analyse where you’ve made a mistake.

So, with all the abuse and pressure that comes with refereeing at the highest level, why do some choose that career path? What are the benefits? Well, one positive is that they’re paid fairly handsomely in return. The players who do everything in their power to deceive the officials earn considerably more, but the figures in the middle are not financially overlooked.

Related

10 Best Referees in Premier League History [Ranked]

Premier League referees aren’t often fan favourites, but several have deserved recognition. We look at the 10 best in history.

Premier League Referee Salary

Mike Dean was paid £200,000 annually while an active referee

Before England formed the world’s first professional governing body for referees, almost every Premier League official worked part-time. The PGMOL – Professional Game Match Officials Limited – was launched in 2001, raising the standards of officialdom and guaranteeing every referee a basic salary of £35,000. The change was transformative. “You had several guys who were always eating fast food suddenly eating at Michelin-starred restaurants,” former referee, Keith Hackett, recalled. The economic reward has more than doubled over the subsequent two decades.

Chief refereeing officer Howard Webb has shed light on how much Premier League referees earn in a meeting with the 72 EFL clubs, per the Times. He revealed that the average salary for a referee in England’s top tier, including bonuses and match fees, is between £170,000 and £180,000.

Top-flight referees are paid a base salary which varies according to experience and seniority, varying from £72,000 and £148,000. Officials are also paid performance bonuses and match fees on top of that. The Athletic revealed that the figure they are paid per match is roughly £1,116.

This all means that the most senior referees, such as Anthony Taylor and Michael Oliver, will earn about £250,000-per-year while the most junior ones in Select Group 1 get about £125,000. A very tidy sum, that! For context, the average annual salary in the UK in 2024 was £34,963.

Mike Dean originally started working in a chicken abattoir before becoming the highest-paid official in the competition, pocketing a reported annual salary of £200,000. Dean retired from on-field officiating after the 2021/22 season, bringing an end to a refereeing career which began in 1985. He can now be found on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday, having quit his job with VAR, with him likely pocketing a healthy sum for his appearances.

Premier League Referees 2024/25

New official was promoted to Select Group 1 ahead of the season

Sam Barrott was added to the fleet of registered Premier League officials for the 2024/25 season, moving up from the Development Group to Select Group 1, the highest level an official can reach on English shores. Barrott admitted that reaching a Premier League centre circle was something he “never thought was achievable” when he set out on his officiating journey.

The former Halifax Town youth team player was only 30 when he took charge of his first Premier League game – younger than six of the starters that afternoon – but is not the most junior official in the division’s history. That honour fell on the youthful shoulders of Michael Oliver, who was just 25 when he oversaw Birmingham City’s 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers in August 2010. Almost a decade-and-a-half later, Oliver is widely considered to be England’s most reliable official and one of the few from these shores who can mix it with the best referees in the world.

Related

The Football Teams Premier League Referees Support

Premier League refs are always accused by fans of having allegiances to certain clubs, but who do they really support?

Champions League Refereeing Salaries

Money rises depending on game quality

If referees excel at their jobs, then they might be called up to officiate in Europe’s biggest competition, the Champions League. And while refereeing multiple games every week might be a slog, the extra money in their pocket is certainly worth it.

Referees could be placed in charge of games ranging from ‘third tier’ matches to ‘elite’ ties, per Spotekz, via Sport1, with them paid more depending on how prestigious the game is. While the lowest of games will only see officials make £750 for a 90-minute match, an elite fixture could see them pocket £7,500. Italian official Daniele Orsato oversaw an unrivalled seven Champions League matches throughout the 2023/24 campaign but retired after serving as one of the referees at Euro 2024.

Refereeing Salaries in Europe’s Top Five Leagues

La Liga officials are the best paid

England’s Premier League is proudly upheld as the top league in world football, but their officials are not the best-paid on the continent. La Liga’s referees all earn a basic annual salary of £124,256, almost £50,000 more than the minimum sum paid to any other continental whistleblower. Former Spanish official, Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez, explained to The Athletic that this was a recent phenomenon.

While they may be well remunerated, Spain’s officials are subjected to almost unrivalled public scrutiny. Real Madrid’s in-house media team have come under repeated criticism for producing targeted videos aimed at discrediting referees who have made controversial decisions against the Spanish giants. The entire refereeing community in Spain was called into question after Barcelona faced corruption charges in 2023 following a series of alleged payments to the former vice-president of the refereeing committee.

How to Become a Premier League Referee

Nine levels to progress through to reach the EFL and Premier League

If those salaries appeal to you, and you’ve got extremely thick skin, then you might be wondering how to become a Premier League referee. Well, Sky Sports outlined three steps for you to go from a grassroots referee to a Premier League official.

Step one

Those interested need to complete The FA Referees Course with your local County FA (must be 14 or over) to become a Level 7 ref (14/15-year-olds become Youth Referee).

Step two

Refs can then apply for promotion through Level 7, 6, 5 and 4. These involve training, law of game exams and observations at a handful of your matches. In terms of timescale, you must typically spend a minimum of one season at each level through 7-4, but if you are excelling, a conversation can be had with your County FA to see if you are appropriate for promotion between level 6 and 4.

• Level 1 – National List (English Football League and English Premier League)
• Level 2a – Panel Select (National League Premier)
• Level 2b – Panel (National League North and South)
• Level 3 – Contributory (Contributory Leagues)
• Level 4 – Supply (Supply Leagues)
• Level 5 – Senior County (County Leagues)
• Level 6 – County (County leagues)
• Level 7 – Junior (Amateur leagues)
• Level 8 – Youth (Junior Referee below age of 16)
• Level 9 – Trainee

Step three

Once at Level 4, and also through levels 3, 2B and 2A, promotion is dependent on a merit table produced by club and observer marks. Promotion from 2A to the English Football League and beyond, also includes an interview.

Information via The Athletic, Transfermarkt, Sport1 and Sky Sports.