Arsenal fans have history with the VAR official for Friday’s Premier League opener against Coventry
Arsenal’s Premier League title defence begins on Friday night against Coventry City at the Emirates.
The match officials for that game have now been announced.
Tom Bramall takes charge as referee, with Gary Beswick and Mat Wilkes as his assistants. Adam Herczeg is the fourth official.
And on VAR is a name that will be immediately familiar to Arsenal fans: Jarred Gillett.
Jarred Gillett to take VAR duty for Arsenal vs Coventry
In October 2024, Gillett was on VAR duty for Arsenal’s trip to Bournemouth when he called for referee Rob Jones to review William Saliba’s challenge on Evanilson, resulting in the Frenchman being sent off in a game Arsenal went on to lose.
The Guardian’s subsequent analysis suggested the red card was technically correct, but that did little to calm Arsenal fans who felt the decision was excessive.
But what seemed to make it worse was how often the Australian official was involved in Arsenal games.
By the time of the Newcastle game the following week, Gillett had been assigned to Arsenal fixtures, as either referee or VAR, in four of their first ten Premier League games.
Some Arsenal fans pointed to the fact that Gillett, as an Australian, grew up supporting Liverpool, who ended up winning the title that season. Spookily, he has never refereed a Liverpool Premier League game.
Again, The Guardian addressed this directly at the time, noting that even if the ‘conspiracy theory’ were true, the Saliba red card was the correct decision by the laws of the game.
Referees, like all professionals, are expected to leave personal allegiances at the door.
But whether that satisfies Arsenal fans is another matter.
Last season, Gillett refereed three Arsenal games and headed VAR for five. Eight of those nine games the Gunners won; the other was the 1-1 draw at home against Manchester City.
Gillett is back on VAR for the season opener. Hopefully it’s a night where his name isn’t mentioned at all.
