Referee trends

131 officials with 5+ matches · ranked by fouls against their own league's mean

The referee is why foul and card markets are soft: most books price them off crude season averages with little adjustment for who is in the middle. Each official is compared against their own league's mean — leagues differ enough that a pooled average would make every Serie A referee look strict.

Cards per foul is the column to read. Fouls per game tells you how scrappy an official's matches are; cards per foul tells you how readily he punishes them. Two referees on four cards a game can be completely different bets, and only this number tells them apart.

Referee	League	Matches	Fouls/game	vs league	Cards/game	Cards/foul	Home	Away
Jeremy Simpsonthin sample	Championship	9	25.6	+15%	4.4	0.174	14.1	11.4
Christian Dingert	Bundesliga	25	24.0	+13%	3.6	0.149	11.6	12.4
Ben Toner	Championship	33	25.1	+13%	3.5	0.140	12.5	12.6
Iosu Galech Apezteguía	La Liga	19	26.3	+12%	4.1	0.154	12.5	13.7
Juan Martínez Munuera	La Liga	36	26.2	+12%	4.1	0.156	12.3	13.8
Tobias Reichel	Bundesliga	24	23.8	+12%	3.8	0.158	11.8	11.9
Giovanni Ayroldi	Serie A	21	28.1	+11%	4.8	0.169	12.7	15.4
Tim Robinson	Premier League	39	22.9	+11%	4.3	0.189	10.7	12.3
Antonio Rapuano	Serie A	15	28.0	+11%	3.9	0.140	14.6	13.4
Robert Schröderthin sample	Bundesliga	13	23.3	+10%	3.2	0.135	10.5	12.8
Federico La Penna	Serie A	29	27.8	+10%	3.8	0.135	14.3	13.5
Alejandro Quintero González	La Liga	38	25.7	+10%	3.7	0.145	11.2	14.5
Federico Dionisithin sample	Serie A	6	27.7	+9%	4.8	0.175	14.3	13.3
Martin Petersen	Bundesliga	21	23.1	+9%	4.2	0.184	12.0	11.1
Stephen Martin	Championship	49	24.2	+9%	3.8	0.158	11.2	13.0
Miguel Sesma Espinosa	La Liga	20	25.3	+8%	3.2	0.126	11.8	13.4
Andy Madley	Premier League	50	22.4	+8%	3.4	0.150	11.1	11.3
Davide Massa	Serie A	36	27.1	+7%	4.2	0.155	12.9	14.2
Tobias Welz	Bundesliga	26	22.7	+7%	4.5	0.198	11.0	11.7
Robert Jones	Premier League	46	22.1	+7%	4.0	0.179	10.3	11.8
Geoff Eltringhamthin sample	Championship	5	23.6	+6%	4.0	0.169	11.0	12.6
Javier Alberola Rojas	La Liga	40	24.8	+6%	3.0	0.122	11.7	13.1
Tom Nield	Championship	43	23.6	+6%	3.4	0.143	10.7	12.8
Francesco Fourneau	Serie A	23	26.8	+6%	4.0	0.151	13.0	13.9
Valerio Crezzinithin sample	Serie A	10	26.8	+6%	3.4	0.127	13.5	13.3
Michael Oliver	Premier League	55	21.9	+6%	3.5	0.162	11.0	10.9
Michael Salisbury	Premier League	39	21.9	+6%	3.5	0.158	10.5	11.4
Daniel Siebert	Bundesliga	33	22.4	+5%	3.6	0.161	10.3	12.1
Andrea Colombo	Serie A	31	26.6	+5%	3.8	0.142	12.5	14.2
Luca Pairetto	Serie A	24	26.6	+5%	4.5	0.168	12.3	14.3
José Luis Guzmán Mansilla	La Liga	17	24.5	+5%	5.2	0.211	12.5	12.0
Isidro Díaz de Mera Escuderos	La Liga	38	24.4	+5%	4.0	0.165	11.4	13.0
Darren Bond	Premier League	23	21.7	+5%	3.2	0.147	10.6	11.0
Marco Di Bello	Serie A	28	26.4	+4%	2.3	0.085	13.5	12.9
Robert Hartmann	Bundesliga	27	22.1	+4%	2.7	0.120	10.9	11.3
Dean Whitestone	Championship	43	23.2	+4%	2.9	0.127	11.5	11.7
José María Sánchez Martínez	La Liga	36	24.3	+4%	3.4	0.138	12.2	12.2
Juan Luca Sacchi	Serie A	21	26.2	+4%	3.1	0.118	12.9	13.3
Samuel Allison	Championship	43	23.0	+4%	3.6	0.156	10.3	12.8
José Luis Munuera Montero	La Liga	39	24.2	+3%	3.6	0.147	12.0	12.2
Matt Donohue	Championship	51	23.0	+3%	3.8	0.166	10.8	12.2
Andrew Kitchen	Championship	57	23.0	+3%	2.6	0.114	11.2	11.8
Farai Hallam	Championship	39	23.0	+3%	3.6	0.158	11.0	12.0
Ruebyn Ricardo	Championship	25	22.9	+3%	4.7	0.204	11.0	12.0
Frank Willenborg	Bundesliga	20	21.9	+3%	3.8	0.174	11.2	10.7
Craig Pawson	Premier League	47	21.3	+3%	3.5	0.164	10.6	10.7
Robin Braunthin sample	Bundesliga	11	21.8	+3%	4.0	0.183	11.6	10.2
Víctor García Verdura	La Liga	38	24.0	+3%	3.1	0.130	11.5	12.4
Kevin Bonacina	Serie A	16	25.9	+2%	3.2	0.123	12.9	13.1
Fabio Maresca	Serie A	19	25.9	+2%	4.1	0.157	13.5	12.4
Pablo González Fuertes	La Liga	20	23.9	+2%	2.9	0.121	11.8	12.2
Florian Exner	Bundesliga	24	21.6	+2%	3.8	0.175	12.1	9.5
Leigh Doughty	Championship	34	22.6	+2%	4.1	0.182	11.9	10.7
Elliot Bell	Championship	17	22.6	+2%	4.5	0.198	12.3	10.3
John Brooks	Premier League	35	21.0	+1%	4.4	0.208	10.1	10.9
Darren England	Premier League	44	21.0	+1%	4.0	0.190	10.0	10.9
Chris Kavanagh	Premier League	55	20.9	+1%	4.1	0.197	10.3	10.6
Francisco José Hernández Maeso	La Liga	38	23.6	+1%	3.1	0.130	12.4	11.2
Tony Harrington	Premier League	38	20.9	+1%	3.4	0.164	10.4	10.4
Matteo Marchetti	Serie A	25	25.5	+1%	3.2	0.124	13.4	12.2
Andrea Rapuanothin sample	Serie A	6	25.5	+1%	3.7	0.144	10.8	14.7
Mateo Busquets Ferrer	La Liga	38	23.5	+1%	4.5	0.192	11.9	11.7
Paul Tierney	Premier League	18	20.8	+1%	3.2	0.152	10.2	10.6
Florian Badstübner	Bundesliga	29	21.3	+1%	2.4	0.113	11.5	9.8
Thomas Kirk	Championship	36	22.3	+0%	3.9	0.173	10.5	11.9
Adam Herczeg	Championship	29	22.3	+0%	3.7	0.165	11.2	11.1
Maurizio Mariani	Serie A	33	25.3	+0%	3.7	0.146	12.4	12.9
Harm Osmers	Bundesliga	28	21.2	-0%	3.8	0.178	10.5	10.7
Thomas Bramall	Premier League	46	20.7	-0%	3.7	0.180	9.8	10.9
Livio Marinelli	Serie A	25	25.2	-0%	2.8	0.113	12.8	12.4
Gianluca Manganiello	Serie A	27	25.1	-1%	3.1	0.122	13.2	12.0
David Cootethin sample	Premier League	7	20.6	-1%	4.4	0.215	10.3	10.3
Sven Jablonski	Bundesliga	32	21.1	-1%	2.9	0.139	9.8	11.3
Stuart Attwell	Premier League	48	20.5	-1%	4.1	0.199	10.5	10.0
Alejandro José Hernández Hernández	La Liga	38	23.1	-1%	4.5	0.195	11.1	12.1
Michael Fabbri	Serie A	33	24.9	-1%	3.8	0.154	12.5	12.5
Alejandro Muñíz Ruiz	La Liga	38	23.0	-2%	3.6	0.158	11.6	11.4
Robert Madley	Championship	29	21.9	-2%	3.2	0.145	11.0	10.9
James Bell	Championship	36	21.9	-2%	3.4	0.156	10.6	11.3
Edward Duckworththin sample	Championship	6	21.8	-2%	5.8	0.267	9.7	12.2
Simone Sozza	Serie A	34	24.8	-2%	3.3	0.134	11.8	13.0
Adrián Cordero Vega	La Liga	39	22.9	-2%	3.8	0.165	11.7	11.2
Marco Piccinini	Serie A	23	24.7	-2%	3.4	0.139	10.7	14.0
Mario Melero López	La Liga	19	22.8	-3%	2.5	0.109	11.0	11.8
Daniel Schlager	Bundesliga	29	20.7	-3%	3.5	0.169	9.9	10.8
Juan Luis Pulido Santana	La Liga	15	22.7	-3%	2.9	0.129	10.3	12.4
Sascha Stegemann	Bundesliga	30	20.6	-3%	3.0	0.147	10.7	9.9
Rosario Abisso	Serie A	23	24.6	-3%	3.4	0.140	13.2	11.4
Giuseppe Collu	Serie A	19	24.5	-3%	3.9	0.161	11.3	13.2
Oliver Langford	Championship	51	21.5	-3%	2.9	0.136	10.4	11.1
Paride Tremoladathin sample	Serie A	7	24.4	-4%	3.0	0.123	12.9	11.6
Benjamin Brand	Bundesliga	31	20.5	-4%	3.3	0.162	10.0	10.5
Jarred Gillett	Premier League	44	20.0	-4%	3.8	0.190	9.6	10.4
Matteo Marcenaro	Serie A	20	24.4	-4%	3.5	0.146	11.3	13.1
John Busby	Championship	48	21.4	-4%	3.0	0.142	10.8	10.6
Jesús Gil Manzano	La Liga	39	22.5	-4%	4.6	0.207	11.5	10.9
Felix Zwayer	Bundesliga	34	20.4	-4%	4.1	0.201	10.2	10.2
Lewis Smith	Championship	49	21.3	-4%	3.4	0.160	9.8	11.5
Gavin Ward	Championship	49	21.3	-4%	2.9	0.137	10.1	11.2
Sören Storks	Bundesliga	24	20.3	-4%	4.1	0.203	9.3	11.0
Will Finnie	Championship	22	21.2	-5%	3.7	0.173	10.2	11.0
Tobias Stieler	Bundesliga	29	20.2	-5%	3.0	0.147	9.7	10.5
Timo Gerach	Bundesliga	19	20.2	-5%	3.5	0.172	9.4	10.7
Peter Bankes	Premier League	48	19.7	-5%	3.4	0.175	9.9	9.8
Felix Brych	Bundesliga	15	20.1	-5%	1.7	0.083	10.5	9.7
Anthony Backhouse	Championship	41	21.1	-5%	4.1	0.195	10.6	10.5
Daniele Doveri	Serie A	37	24.0	-5%	2.7	0.113	11.5	12.5
Ermanno Feliciani	Serie A	23	24.0	-5%	2.2	0.093	12.0	12.0
Bastian Dankert	Bundesliga	29	20.1	-5%	2.8	0.137	9.7	10.4
Simon Hooper	Premier League	43	19.6	-5%	3.9	0.197	9.2	10.4
Marco Guida	Serie A	24	23.9	-6%	3.6	0.150	11.3	12.6
Joshua Smith	Championship	51	21.0	-6%	3.2	0.150	10.1	10.9
Anthony Taylor	Premier League	62	19.5	-6%	3.3	0.167	9.8	9.6
Samuel Barrott	Premier League	49	19.4	-6%	4.2	0.216	10.0	9.4
Luca Zufferli	Serie A	33	23.8	-6%	2.7	0.114	10.9	12.8
Ben Speediethin sample	Championship	10	20.8	-7%	2.4	0.115	9.5	11.3
Matthias Jöllenbeck	Bundesliga	26	19.8	-7%	3.3	0.169	9.0	10.8
David Webb	Championship	55	20.8	-7%	2.4	0.114	9.9	10.9
James Linington	Championship	36	20.8	-7%	3.3	0.161	9.9	10.9
Tom Reevesthin sample	Championship	7	20.4	-8%	3.3	0.161	9.9	10.6
César Soto Grado	La Liga	40	21.3	-9%	4.0	0.185	11.3	10.0
Guillermo Cuadra Fernández	La Liga	38	21.2	-9%	3.6	0.167	11.0	10.3
Andy Davies	Championship	19	20.0	-10%	2.4	0.121	9.3	10.7
Davide Di Marcothin sample	Serie A	5	22.6	-11%	1.6	0.071	11.0	11.6
Alberto Arenathin sample	Serie A	12	22.6	-11%	3.3	0.144	11.8	10.8
Deniz Aytekin	Bundesliga	18	18.8	-12%	3.6	0.192	9.0	9.8
Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea	La Liga	38	20.6	-12%	3.0	0.146	9.9	10.7
Antonio Giuathin sample	Serie A	5	22.0	-13%	3.0	0.136	9.8	12.2
Daniele Chiffi	Serie A	32	21.6	-15%	3.1	0.142	10.2	11.4
Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias	La Liga	39	19.9	-15%	3.3	0.166	9.9	10.0
Patrick Ittrichthin sample	Bundesliga	11	17.7	-16%	2.8	0.159	8.9	8.8

Home and Away are fouls committed by each side under this official. Penalties awarded is not shown — the data feed does not record them, and an empty column would read as an official who awards none.