Villa Park referee has long - and colourful - history with Albion
Craig Pawson will continue his long history with Albion when he referees them for the 31st time tonight.
The official from Sheffield has been given the middle at Villa Park and his VAR will be Stuart Attwell.
Albion last saw Pawson when they won 2-1 at home to Manchester United early this season.
He is still perhaps best remembered by some fans as the ref who sent off both Romain Vincelot and Ashley Barnes in the first ten minutes at home to Burnley more than a decade ago.
Pawson also refereed the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace the following season and the 1-1 success at Selhurst Park secured by Anthony Knockaert’s stunning goal.
He was in charge when Albion beat leaders Leicester 4-1 at the King Power in the Championship.
There was also an outstanding 1-0 win at Tottenham and a 3-0 success at Watford in Graham Potter’s first game in charge.
He oversaw the 1-0 win over Manchester United in 2018 which secured Prem safety and was the referee who was told via technology that Pascal Gross’s header had crossed the line.
But Pawson was also in the middle for the 4-1 play-off defeat at Derby which spelt the end of Oscar Garcia’s tenure and the heartbreaking FA Cup semi-final defeat by Manchester United on penalties.
His first Albion game was almost 16 years ago, when Micky Adams’ struggling side – wearing Leicester’s away kit due to a mix-up over colours - forced a 0-0 draw at the King Power in League One, helped by a fine display in goal from John Sullivan.
Pawson felt - understandably - that the Seagulls' kit was too similar to the blue worn by the home team.
As well as Potter’s first and Oscar’s last, he also refereed Roberto De Zerbi’s final game in charge.
More recently, he refereed Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 win over Tottenham in which Djed Spence was dismissed near the end.
That took him to 60 yellow cards and three reds in 16 games this season across all competitions.
The full officiating team for Aston Villa v Albion is as follows.
Referee: Craig Pawson. Assistants: Darren Cann, Dan Robathan. Fourth official: Gavin Ward. VAR: Stuart Attwell. Assistant VAR: Stuart Burt.
