Sam Barrott will referee Burnley’s game against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium tonight for the fourth time this season, having previously officiated Premier League games against Bournemouth and West Ham, as well as an FA Cup encounter against Spurs.
When the season began, I doubt Barrott anticipated to lead the teams out today for his eighth Premier League game. As the season began, he had just been promoted to Select Group 2 and expected to be in charge of most Championship games.
And that is how his season began, with Sunderland v Ipswich on the first weekend, followed by a string of games at that level until, unexpectedly, he was assigned the Fulham v Sheffield United game in the Premier League in October.
Since then, he’s played roughly half of his games at this level, and he’s also had several high-profile cup ties, including our FA Cup match against Spurs and this week’s Liverpool v Norwich encounter. He was also assigned to the opening leg of the League Cup semi-final between Middlesbrough and Chelsea.
His performances in Burnley games to date have earned him third place in RATE THE REF, with a score of 77.18 out of 100. Only one game official Josh Smith and Rebecca Walsh, who will play her second Premier League game this weekend, are above him.
He has officiated 27 games this season, with 84 yellow and three red cards. The home team received 40 yellow cards, while the visiting team received 44. In his first three Championship games this season, he sent out two players. In December, he showed his first Premier League red card, dismissing Fulham’s Raúl Jiménez at Newcastle, after viewing the event on the pitch side monitor.
His most recent game, against Liverpool and Norwich, was card-free, his first since the League Two match between Carlisle and Hartlepool just over a year ago.
Darren England, the fourth official tonight at the Etihad, has only played one Burnley game this season, a 5-2 home defeat to Spurs. Our next game, the controversial 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest, was refereed by Rob Jones, who is on VAR duty tonight.
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