_(cropped).jpg) Brooks in March 2015 | |||
| Full name | John Edmund Cornwall Brooks | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 1990 (age 34–35) Melton Mowbray,Leicestershire, England | ||
| Other occupation | Insurance Broker | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2012–2016 | Premier League | Assistant referee | |
| 2014–2016 | Football Conference | Referee | |
| 2016– | English Football League | Referee | |
| 2021– | Premier League | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2015–2016 | FIFA listed | Assistant referee | |
| 2023– | FIFA listed | Referee | |
John Edmund Cornwall Brooks (born 1990) is an English professionalfootball referee who primarily officiates in thePremier League, having been promoted to theSelect Group in 2021. He has been aUEFA First Category referee since 2024, and was previously an assistant referee in the Premier League from 2012 to 2016.
Brooks began refereeing in 2004, and became aSelect Group assistant referee in 2012 and then aFIFA listed international assistant referee in 2015. He began refereeing in theFootball Conference League in 2014, before becoming anEFL referee in 2016. He was promoted to Select Group 2 in 2018, before his promotion to Select Group 1 in June 2021. He was promoted to the FIFA list of international referees in 2023.
John Edmund Cornwall Brooks was born in 1990 inMelton Mowbray, to Edmund Hugh Cornwall Brooks (1949–1990) and Sally Ann Taylor. His father died in a car accident in 1990.[1] Through his father, he is a descendant ofKing Edward III of England, and also ofRichard of Cornwall, the son ofKing John of England.[1]
Brooks attendedLoughborough Grammar school.
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Brooks played football up until the age of 14, and has said that he "wasn't the most talented footballer", but loved football and so decided to take up refereeing. He began refereeing in the local leagues in Leicestershire in 2004 at the age of 14.[2] He began refereeing adult football at the age of 16.[3] He also worked at aninsurance brokers before becoming a professional referee.[3]
Brooks began officiating as an assistant referee at Premier League level at the age of 21.[4] In 2011, he was promoted to the national list of assistant referees, and in 2012 he was promoted to the Select Group of assistant referees.[5] He was promoted to the FIFA list of international assistant referees in 2015.[6]
Brooks was an assistant referee at the2014 Football League Championship play-off final and the2015 FA Community Shield. He was also an assistant referee toMark Clattenburg at the2016 FA Cup final.[5]
Brooks began refereeing in theConference League at the start of the 2014–2015 season, before moving up toFootball League in the 2016–2017 season.[2][7] He was promoted toSelect Group 2 at the start of the 2018–2019 season.[8] He refereed the2018 FA Vase final betweenStockton Town andThatcham Town.[9]
Brooks was promoted to the Select Group of referees in June 2021.[10][9] His referee coach isAndre Marriner.[3]
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In December 2021, Brooks refereed his first Premier League match betweenWolves andBurnley atMolineux.[11] He refereed a total of 4 Premier League games during the 2021–2022 season;[12] on 2 January 2022 betweenEverton andBrighton atGoodison Park,[13] on 26 February 2022 between Brighton andAston Villa at theAMEX stadium,[14] and on 30 April 2022 between Aston Villa andNorwich atVilla Park, the last of which was the game that saw Norwich relegated from the Premier League.[15]
Brooks also refereed 11 games in the EFL Championship, as well as a third round FA Cup tie betweenTottenham andMorecambe atTottenham Hotspur Stadium on 9 January 2022.[16]
Brooks refereed his first Premier League game of the 2022–23 season on 13 August 2022 betweenWolverhampton Wanderers andFulham at theMolineux stadium.[17][18]
Brooks was promoted to theFIFA list of international referees at the start of 2023.[19]
On 11 February 2023, Brooks, as thevideo assistant referee, wrongly ruled out a goal byBrighton & Hove Albion'sPervis Estupiñán againstCrystal Palace. A technician tasked with drawing the lines failed to draw the line to the deepestCrystal Palace defender and mistakenly identifiedJames Tomkins as the Crystal Palace player closest to his own goal when it was actually his team-mateMarc Guéhi.[20][21] After the image was presented to Brooks, he misjudged the situation and unintentionally ruled out Brighton & Hove's goal. An emergency meeting was convened byPGMOL headHoward Webb after the incident. Following the meeting, Brooks was subsequently dropped for his next two matches.[22]
After almost a two month gap, Brooks returned to refereeing on 5 March 2023,[12] where he refereedNottingham Forest's 2–2 draw with Everton at theCity Ground. He was criticised by Nottingham Forest managerSteve Cooper and Everton managerSean Dyche for his performance in the match. Cooper said that there would be a lot of talk about the performance of Brooks, and said that he had "too much impact" on the game. Cooper claimed that there was a foul onMorgan Gibbs-White in the build up toAbdoulaye Doucouré's goal, whilst Dyche said that he was "amazed" that Everton did not get a penalty afterSéamus Coleman went down after a challenge fromJack Colback.[23] Cooper subsequently called for a review into Brooks' display and Nottingham Forest made a formal complaint about the standard of referees.[24] Despite this, Brooks went on to refereeBournemouth vsLiverpool at theVitality stadium,[25] and later refereedManchester United vsBrentford atOld Trafford on 5 April 2023.[26]
Brooks was thefourth official for Liverpool's 4–3 victory overTottenham Hotspur atAnfield on 30 April 2023, in which a winner for Liverpool was scored in the 94th minute.[27] Liverpool managerJürgen Klopp celebrated the stoppage time winner by running up to Brooks and celebrating in front of him, which Klopp later described as being "not cool" and admitted was his fault.[28][29][30] RefereePaul Tierney deemed his conduct worthy of a red card, but Brooks convinced Tierney to instead issue him with a yellow card.[28][31] Klopp later submitted a letter to the FA, in which he apologised to both Tierney and Brooks, and stated that he was sorry for his "immediate reaction" when he ran towards Brooks.[32]
Brooks refereed 5 matches during the final month of the season in May 2023. He refereedManchester City's 3–0 win overWest Ham atthe Etihad on 3 May and Bournemouth's 1–3 defeat to Chelsea at the Vitality stadium on 6 May, before refereeing Manchester United vsWolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford on 13 May and then Liverpool vsAston Villa at Anfield on 20 May. His last game came on the final day of the season between Brentford and Premier League championsManchester City at theGtech Community stadium on 28 May 2023.[33] He refereed a total of 19 Premier League games during the season.[12]
Brooks was the fourth official for the2023 FA Community Shield betweenArsenal and Manchester City on 6 August 2023.[34] His first refereed Premier League game of the season came on 12 August 2023 betweenSheffield United and Crystal Palace atBramall Lane.[35] He refereed his firstUEFA Europa League match betweenSheriff Tiraspol andServette on 26 October 2023.[36]
Brooks refereedNewcastle vs Liverpool atSt James' Park on 27 August 2023.[37] In the match, he showed a straight red card to Liverpool captainVirgil Van Dijk for aDOGSO on Newcastle forwardAlexander Isak.[38][39] Van Dijk argued with Brooks over the decision to send him off while the incident was being reviewed by the VAR, and said "absolute fucking joke" during the incident.[40] Van Dijk later denied calling Brooks that, and said he was "adamant" that he was instead referring to the decision by Brooks and subsequent VAR decision to send him off.[41] After looking at the match report by Brooks,[42] the FA subsequently charged Van Dijk for acting in an improper manner towards a match official after his sending off, and also for using abusive and or insulting words.[43][44] After the match, Newcastle managerEddie Howe said that Brooks was "wrong" to not issue a second yellow card to Liverpool defenderTrent Alexander-Arnold for a foul on Newcastle forwardAnthony Gordon.[45]
Brooks was the VAR for Chelsea's 4–1 win over Tottenham atTottenham Hotspur stadium on 6 November 2023.[46] During the match, Brooks made 9 VAR decisions, and in the match there were 5 goals ruled out and 2 red cards issued. During the first half, Brooks checked for a red card against Tottenham defenderCristian Romero at 22 mins but no card was issued.[47][48] At 24 mins, he disallowed an equalised for Chelsea forwardRaheem Sterling for handball and at 28 mins he disallowed a goal fromMoisés Caicedo for offside.[47] At 31 mins, he recommended refereeMichael Oliver to review Romero for serious foul play for a foul by Romero onEnzo Fernández, for which Oliver issued a penalty and a red card against Romero.[49][50] Brooks was praised for his performance as the VAR by former refereesDermot Gallagher andMark Clattenburg.[51][52] PGMOL chiefHoward Webb also said that the VAR officials for the match and the officials on the field did really well, and described the review for the Romero sending off and subsequent penalty as an "excellent process" and a "good intervention".[53][54]
On 26 November 2023, Brooks was the referee for Manchester United's 3–0 win over Everton at Goodison Park,[55] in whichAlejandro Garnacho scored the opening goal; which was a bicycle kick which later won thePuskás award.[56] During the second half after the first goal had been scored, Brooks initially bookedAnthony Martial for a dive, but VARChris Kavanagh advised Brooks to watchAshley Young's challenge on the pitchside monitor and after doing that, Brooks awarded a penalty to Manchester United whichMarcus Rashford scored to make it 2–0. Everton managerSean Dyche described the "screen thing" as a "farce", and said that VAR seems to be "mayhem all the time". Thousands of Everton fans also took part in anti-Premier League protests in the match by holding up cards with the Premier League logo with the word "corrupt" underneath it, and Brooks was booed by the Everton fans for decisions he made during the match.[57]
Brooks refereedPortugal's 9–0 win overLuxemburg on 11 September 2023.[58] He later refereedFrance's 14–0 victory overGibraltar at theAllianz Riviera on 18 November 2023, which was the largest win in the history of theEuropean Championship qualifiers.[59] During the match, Brooks issued a red card to Gibraltar defenderEthan Santos after a VAR review, and also awarded a penalty to France after a VAR review for handball, whichKylian Mbappé converted.[60][61] He refereed theUEFA Youth League final betweenOlympiacos andMilan atColovray Stadium,Nyon inSwitzerland on 22 April 2024.[62] Brooks refereed two FA cup games during the season, firstly during the third round on 7 January 2024 between Arsenal and Liverpool at theEmirates stadium.[63] He also refereed the quarter-final betweenManchester United and Liverpool atOld Trafford on 17 March 2024, during which he issued a second yellow card to Manchester United playerAmad Diallo for excessive celebration after he scored a 121st minute winner in extra time to make the score 4–3.[64] He also refereed a Carabao cup second leg semi-final betweenChelsea and Middlesbrough atStamford Bridge on 23 January 2024.[65]
Brooks refereed a total of 22 Premier games during the season,[12] with his last refereed Premier League match coming on the final day of the season on 19 May 2024, between Manchester City andWest Ham at theEtihad stadium,[66] which Manchester City won 3–1 to become Premier League champions.[67] Brooks was reported as being statistically the best Premier League referee during the season,[68][69][70] as well as the second best VAR.[69]
Brooks refereed the2024 EFL Championship play-off final betweenSouthampton andLeeds at Wembley on 26 May 2024,[71] which was attended by 85,862 people; making it the highest attended EFL Championship play-off final in over a decade.[72]
Brooks was promoted to the UEFA first category of referees at the start of the 2024–2025 season; he replacedCraig Pawson, and joined Chris Kavanagh to be the only English officials on the UEFA second tier referees list for the season.[68] He was appointed to referee the2024 FA Community Shield, but sustained a minor injury the week before the final was due to be played, and he was replaced byJarred Gillett.[73] He refereed his first Premier League match of the season between Tottenham and Brentford at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium on 21 September 2024.[74] Brooks was defended by Brentford managerThomas Frank when Frank was asked about the handball by Tottenham goalkeeperGuglielmo Vicario that Brooks had missed during the game; Frank stated that it was a "mistake" but said that the incident "did not define the game", and also added that "Brooks overall had a very good game" and said that "the way he handled soft fouls both ways was really good".[75]
Brooks refereed his second Premier League match of the season on 20 October 2024, which was abig six clash between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield.[12] During the first half, Brooks awarded a penalty to Liverpool for a foul byLevi Colwill onCurtis Jones, whichMohamed Salah then scored. Brooks awarded a second penalty to Liverpool forRobert Sánchez's challenge on Jones, but changed his decision after being recommended to review at the pitchside monitor by VAR Michael Oliver.[76] After the match, Liverpool managerArne Slot accused Brooks of wanting to show that he was not able to give the decisions he had to make whilst referring to the Anfield atmosphere.[77][78] Conversely, Chelsea managerEnzo Maresca said the referee was there to "make decisions", and claimed that sometimes they were made "because of the noise", but also stated that "overall they did ok".[79] Brooks has also refereed multiple other big six clashes during the season, including Manchester City's 4–0 defeat to Tottenham at the Etihad stadium on 23 November 2024, and a carabao cup quarter-final which Manchester United lost 4–3 to Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium on 19 December 2024.[12] He refereed Manchester City's 3–1 win over Chelsea at the Etihad on 25 January 2025.[80]
Internationally, in the UEFA Europa League, Brooks refereedAjax's 4–0 win overBesiktas at theJohan Cruyff Arena on 26 September 2024,[81] andMalmö FF's 2–2 draw withGalatasaray at theEleda stadion on 12 December 2024.[82] He also refereed the group stageUEFA Nations league match betweenMalta andMoldova on 13 October 2024.[83] On 30 January 2025, Brooks refereedBraga vsLazio at theEstádio Municipal de Braga.[84]
Brooks refereedIpswich Town's 2–0 win over Chelsea atPortman Road on 30 December 2024.[85] In the 10th minute of the match, he awarded a penalty to Ipswich for a foul byFilip Jörgensen onLiam Delap.[86] Numerous Chelsea players then surrounded Brooks due to the on-field decision, includingLevi Colwill and Enzo Fernández, who were both then booked for dissent.[87] Chelsea were later charged by the FA for "surrounding a match official", and for failing to "ensure their players did not behave in a way which was improper".[88]
Brooks refereed the first leg of a Carabao cup semi-final between Arsenal and Newcastle at the Emirates on 7 January 2025.[89] On 4 March, Brooks was appointed to referee the2025 Carabao Cup final.[90]
| Season[91] | Competition(s) | Games[a] | Total | per game | Total | per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–13 | Premier League U21 D1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013–14 | Premier League U21 D1 | 3 | 7 | 2.3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014–15 | Conference League | 15 | 70 | 4.7 | 3 | 0.2 |
| 2015–16 | National League | 17 | 41 | 2.4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016–17 | League Two,League One | 27 | 124 | 4.6 | 8 | 0.3 |
| 2017–18 | EFL Championship,FA Cup,EFL Cup | 9 | 30 | 3.3 | 1 | 0.1 |
| 2018–19 | 28 | 116 | 4.1 | 3 | 0.1 | |
| 2019–20 | 32 | 116 | 3.6 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2020–21 | EFL Championship,EFL Championship play-offs,FA Cup,EFL Cup,League Two | 30 | 103 | 3.4 | 5 | 0.2 |
| 2021–22 | Premier League,EFL Championship,EFL Cup,League Two,European Qualifiers | 18 | 58 | 3.2 | 2 | 0.1 |
| 2022–23 | Premier League,EFL Championship,FA Cup,EFL Cup,U21 European Qualifiers | 28 | 113 | 4 | 3 | 0.1 |
| 2023–24 | Premier League,EFL Championship,EFL Championship play-offs,FA Cup,EFL Cup,UEFA Europa League,UEFA Youth League,UEFA Europa Conference League Qualifiers | 33 | 148 | 4.5 | 5 | 0.2 |
| 2014 Football League Championship play-off final | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Match | Venue | Role |
| 24 May 2014 | Derby County –Queens Park Rangers | Wembley Stadium | Assistant referee |
| 2015 FA Community Shield | |||
| Date | Match | Venue | Role |
| 2 August 2015 | Arsenal –Chelsea | Wembley Stadium | Assistant referee |
| 2016 FA Cup final | |||
| Date | Match | Venue | Role |
| 21 May 2016 | Crystal Palace –Manchester United | Wembley Stadium | Assistant referee |
| 2018 FA Vase final | |||
| Date | Match | Venue | Role |
| 20 May 2018 | Stockton Town –Thatcham Town | Wembley Stadium | Referee |
| 2023 FA Community Shield | |||
| Date | Match | Venue | Role |
| 6 August 2023 | Arsenal –Manchester City | Wembley Stadium | Fourth official |
| 2024 EFL Championship play-off final | |||
| Date | Match | Venue | Role |
| 26 May 2024 | Leeds United –Southampton | Wembley Stadium | Referee |
| 2025 EFL Cup final | |||
| Date | Match | Venue | Role |
| 16 March 2025 | Liverpool –Newcastle United | Wembley Stadium | Referee |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)UEFA First Category referees (as of 1 January 2025) | |
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