Keith Hackett

Tue 27 May 2025 20:19, UK

Keith Hackett admits referee Michael Oliver’s support for Newcastle United could have left him “exposed” had he refereed a game on the final day of the season.

The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider he does however believe Oliver should have been appointed to referee that would have meant Thomas Bramall wasn’t in charge of Aston Villa at Man United, rather than operate VAR as the campaign ended.

On Sunday (25 May), the Premier League season came to a close in somewhat controversial fashion, when Bramall wrongly denied Aston Villa an opening goal against Man United.

Unai Emery‘s side would then go on to lose that game, a result which meant they missed out on qualification for the Champions League.

Michael Oliver absence comes under scrutiny

Hackett has already questioned the decision to appoint Bramall to such a key game, especially when Oliver himself was only working in the VAR room on the Tottenham vs Brighton match.

That in itself is controversial, given Oliver is a much more senior and highly-rated referee than Bramall, in terms of game taken charge of in the Premier League.

It is though worth noting that the beneficiaries of that defeat for Aston Villa were Newcastle, who were able to qualify for the Champions League ahead of the Midlands club thanks to those final day results.

But given Oliver is known to be a fan of the Magpies, his appointment to referee such a game would have created its own conflict of interest.

Hackett nevertheless believes that as a senior official, Oliver should have been involved as a referee at Anfield on the final day, to allow Darren England to oversee Aston Villa vs Man United as a higher-ranked name than Bramall.

Newcastle United controversy could still have been avoided

After being asked by Football Insider whether the PGMOL may have intentionally not involved Oliver as a referee to avoid accusations of bias over his publicly-known support of Newcastle, Hackett said:

“When you look at the final set of fixtures you want to ensure that your top performing referees are appointed to the final ten games.

“The aim is to close off the season not talking about any major refereeing incidents.

“The Premier League Referee Index which I post below indicates the top referees and the number of appointments they had received up to the final set of fixtures. This is a reflection on how the PGMOL rate their referees.

“I understand fully the exposure of Michael Oliver because of his support for Newcastle United. I would have put Oliver out at Liverpool, not as VAR.”

Had Oliver taken charge of that game between Liverpool and Crystal Palace, where neither side had anything to play for, it would have allowed another more senior referee in England to take charge of the clash between Man United and Aston Villa, potentially avoiding the controversy around Morgan Rogers’ disallowed strike.