Thomas Bramall will take charge of an Arsenal senior match for the first time when Crystal Palace visit the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, in a Premier League fixture that also sees Chris Kavanagh return to VAR duty for the first time in over a season.
Bramall, 35, is one of the newer additions to the Premier League’s Select Group One. A former PE and mathematics teacher from Sheffield, he joined the top flight in 2022 and has since refereed a number of fixtures including Liverpool v Tottenham last season, which ended 5-1 to the hosts.
He has never overseen an Arsenal first-team fixture but has officiated four of the club’s under-21 matches, three of which ended in defeat, with six yellow cards to the young Gunners shown across those games.
Bramall has, however, refereed six Crystal Palace Premier League matches, none of which they have lost (W3 D3), booking nine Palace players, sending one off for two yellows, and giving them one penalty.
If Bramall represents something new for Arsenal, the man in charge of VAR offers a sense of annoying déjà vu. Kavanagh’s name remains familiar, and not fondly, to Arsenal supporters after a series of high-profile controversies in recent seasons.
As referee during last March’s win over Chelsea, Kavanagh ignored two major incidents that drew anger from players and fans alike: a clear handball by Marc Cucurella in the area after a Jurrien Timber run, and a dangerous Wesley Fofana stamp on Declan Rice.
Despite replays, VAR declined to intervene, ruling Cucurella’s arm position “expected” and the Fofana challenge of “insufficient force”.
Fofana, who had already tested the referee’s leniency throughout the match, was eventually booked not for a foul but for throwing a second ball onto the pitch during a Myles Lewis-Skelly throw-in.
Rice has also been involved in one of Kavanagh’s most angering calls. In a game against Brighton, he was sent off for barely kicking the ball away after a foul, an error later admitted by Premier League refereeing chief Howard Webb, who highlighted the inconsistency of allowing Joao Pedro to do the same without sanction. “We’ve messaged very clearly and strongly to the players in pre-season around the importance of not getting involved with the ball once the whistle is gone,” Webb said afterwards, conceding that the rule had not been applied evenly.
Further flashpoints under Kavanagh include his failure to penalise Robert Sánchez for clattering into Gabriel Jesus at head height, an overturned penalty for Newcastle, and a series of contentious calls in the 2021 defeat to Aston Villa, when Emiliano Martínez’s foul on Alexandre Lacazette was ruled a free-kick to Villa and Ezri Konsa escaped with only a yellow for bringing down Bukayo Saka when clean through.
Kavanagh has been on VAR duty for seven Arsenal matches overall, with three wins, one draw and three defeats. Sunday will be his first time overseeing an Arsenal fixture from the booth since the 2023-24 season when he oversaw Arsenal’s 4-3 win at Luton.
He has already refereed one Arsenal match this season – the 1-0 defeat at Anfield
The full officiating team for the Emirates is as follows: Referee: Thomas Bramall; Assistants: Simon Bennett and Nick Greenhalgh; Fourth official: Andy Madley; VAR: Chris Kavanagh; Assistant VAR: Craig Taylor.