Commanding 22 players who’re earning five or six figures each week and competing to earn their teams potentially millions more than they would have without a win is certainly a high-pressure task.
So, with tens of millions of eyes on each game and football betting markets relying on the decisions of the officials, you’d assume that Premier League referees would earn a hefty annual salary.
Here’s a look at how much the elite group of selected referees who run Premier League matches each week earn and how much their most reliable assistants get paid.
How Much Do Premier League Referees Get Paid?
On average, Premier League referees get paid £180,000 each year. This is a figure drawn from the salaries of the 20 refs that comprise the Select Group One tier that’s called upon for English top flight games.
However, Premier League refs can also earn extra cash from officiating in Europe and for international competitions, from UEFA qualifiers to the FIFA World Cup Final.
Reports suggest that the Premier League referee annual salary ranges from around £73,000 to £147,000, but that gets supplemented by a £1,150 fee for each match refereed.
They earn significantly less than the players they’re tasked with controlling for over 90 minutes, with those weekly salaries dwarfing the annual returns of even the highest paid Select Group One officials.
How Much Do Assistant Referees Get Paid in the Premier League?
Select Group One assistant referees get an average salary of £110,000. That’s according to Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer of Professional Game Match Official Limited (PGMOL).
This group of assistants featured 29 officials at the time of writing. The group includes the Premier League’s two female officials, Sian Massey-Ellis and Natalie Aspinall.
Quite rightly, all assistant referees get paid within the same bracket based on experience and performance, which in turn gives them the opportunity to earn more in matches beyond the Premier League.
Both Massey-Ellis and Aspinall have also played the role of referee in matches, which will have given them a wage bump for those occasions, and they both chosen to officiate at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
How Do Premier League Referee Salaries Compare to Other Leagues?
While interest in the outcomes of games and the betting lines is often seen as the highest among Europe’s elite leagues, referee payments involved for Premier League officials reportedly trails the competition.
Premier League referees earn the lowest match fee bonus of all of the elite European leagues. At around £1,150 for turning up, all four of the other major leagues pay more than Premier League referees.
Here’s a look at the reported match day payments that go to referees in each of Europe’s top domestic competitions:
- La Liga: £5,200
- Bundesliga: £3,150
- Serie A: £3,000
- Ligue 1: £2,400
- Premier League: £1,150
Reports vary greatly, but in some instances, it’s believed that referees in these leagues also get a higher set annual salary, too.
Perhaps not by comparison to their peers or the other performers on the pitch, but Premier League referees get paid a rather high salary, generally speaking. Plus, they can supplement it by partaking in other competitions.
The elite tier of UEFA Champions League referees, which features several Prem refs, reportedly earn upwards of £5,500 per match. In the development tier, they get £3,800 for each assignment.
On average, a Premier League referee salary is in the region of £180,000, but those that are good enough to partake in other competitions and other roles multiple times per week can see that sum increase significantly.
