Chris Kavanagh
The independent Key Match Incidents panel has reviewed 78 of those matches and confirmed 8 errors in them. Everything below is a count: RefCard publishes errors, not an accuracy percentage, because no source publishes the denominator such a figure would need.
Season by season
| Season | Matches | Fouls/game | Yellows/game | Reds/game | Penalties | Confirmed errors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | 3 | 25.3 | 5.00 | 0.33 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025-26 | 30 | 22.3 | 4.20 | 0.13 | 4 | 3 |
| 2024-25 | 25 | 21.4 | 4.60 | 0.20 | 3 | 3 |
| 2023-24 | 20 | 21.6 | 4.10 | 0.20 | 8 | 2 |
| 2022-23 | 13 | 20.7 | 3.00 | 0.00 | —‡ | — |
| 2021-22 | 18 | 20.1 | 3.78 | 0.17 | —‡ | — |
| 2020-21 | 22 | 22.4 | 2.82 | 0.09 | —‡ | — |
| 2019-20 | 26 | 21.7 | 3.31 | 0.04 | —‡ | — |
| 2018-19 | 24 | 19.2 | 3.08 | 0.08 | —‡ | — |
| 2017-18 | 15 | 20.6 | 3.53 | 0.13 | —‡ | — |
| 2016-17 | 1 | 24.0 | 4.00 | 0.00 | —‡ | — |
Confirmed errors are only available from 2023-24, when the Key Match Incidents panel began. Earlier seasons show the disciplinary record only. ‡ Penalties are recorded from 2023-24 onward; a dash means the figure was never collected for that season, not that none were given.
Cards and fouls
The career average is 3.67 yellow cards a game, against a league median of 3.67 for rated referees, on 21.3 fouls a game.
Added time
7.1 minutes of second-half added time on average, against a league median of 7.2. A model of each match's substitutions, cards and goals expects 7.2 from these fixtures — about what those stoppages predict.
Added time is captured from 2024-25 onward, over the 50 matches where we hold it — a shorter window than the figures above.
Club by club
Every club refereed at least three times, with that club's own record in those matches and the cards it took.
| Club | Matches | W–D–L | Yellows | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | 29 | 16–7–6 | 57 | 1.97 |
| Liverpool | 29 | 18–5–6 | 33 | 1.14 |
| Newcastle | 24 | 11–4–9 | 43 | 1.79 |
| West Ham | 23 | 8–6–9 | 34 | 1.48 |
| Chelsea | 22 | 12–3–7 | 50 | 2.27 |
| Brighton | 20 | 4–7–9 | 44 | 2.20 |
| Tottenham | 20 | 10–6–4 | 31 | 1.55 |
| Leicester | 19 | 4–4–11 | 31 | 1.63 |
| Manchester United | 19 | 9–4–6 | 44 | 2.32 |
| Burnley | 18 | 4–7–7 | 29 | 1.61 |
| Everton | 18 | 5–6–7 | 29 | 1.61 |
| Aston Villa | 17 | 6–5–6 | 34 | 2.00 |
| Bournemouth | 16 | 5–4–7 | 30 | 1.88 |
| Manchester City | 15 | 10–3–2 | 24 | 1.60 |
| Wolves | 14 | 3–2–9 | 34 | 2.43 |
| Crystal Palace | 12 | 5–3–4 | 18 | 1.50 |
| Leeds | 12 | 4–1–7 | 22 | 1.83 |
| Fulham | 11 | 5–2–4 | 28 | 2.55 |
| Nottingham Forest | 10 | 3–4–3 | 25 | 2.50 |
| Southampton | 8 | 3–3–2 | 13 | 1.62 |
| Watford | 6 | 2–2–2 | 13 | 2.17 |
| Sheffield Utd | 6 | 2–0–4 | 16 | 2.67 |
| Huddersfield | 5 | 0–3–2 | 8 | 1.60 |
| Norwich | 5 | 0–0–5 | 10 | 2.00 |
| Brentford | 5 | 0–1–4 | 6 | 1.20 |
| West Brom | 4 | 0–0–4 | 5 | 1.25 |
The W–D–L is the club's. Nothing here is evidence of bias — a difference this size is what chance looks like. See how that was measured.
Panel review
2026-27
3 of Chris Kavanagh’s decisions were reviewed by the panel this season — 3 upheld, none ruled incorrect.
At VAR, the same 3 decisions: 3 correct, 0 incorrect. The VAR layer is a separate official’s work and is never attributed to the referee.
1 further decision in these matches was led by an assistant referee. The League names the role and not the official, so it is counted for the match and not against a referee.
- Bournemouth v Everton · 17:07 — Penalty not awarded. Challenge by Tavernier (BOU) on Tarkowski (EVE)
The panel upheld (5-0). “The referee's call of no penalty was supported, with both players engaging in holding actions that are below the threshold for being penalised.” - Bournemouth v Everton · 54:09 — Penalty not awarded. Challenge by Hill (BOU) on Dewsbury-Hall (EVE)
The panel upheld (5-0). “The referee's call of no penalty was supported with this being deemed a collision between the two players rather than a foul.” - Bournemouth v Everton · 73:55 — Penalty not awarded. Handball appeal against Scott (BOU)
The panel upheld (5-0). “The referee's call of no penalty for a potential handball offence against Scott was supported as the arm was in a justifiable position.”
Panel-confirmed errors
- 2025-26 · Fulham v Manchester United — on-field error below the clear-and-obvious threshold
- 2025-26 · Aston Villa v Wolves — second-yellow error
- 2025-26 · Brighton v Arsenal — VAR missed an on-field error
- 2024-25 · Manchester United v Tottenham · 41' — VAR missed an on-field error; Fernandes is reaching, the contact is high but certainly not excessive force or endangering the safety. The evidence is also there for a VAR intervention.
- 2024-25 · Everton v Brentford · 39' — VAR intervened wrongly; The panel were split (3:2), with the majority deeming the on-field decision correct as 'both players are committed to normal footballing actions.' Two panelists deemed the on-field decision incorrect as 'whilst this was a challenge for the ball, there was a high, full and forceful contact with the studs.'
- 2024-25 · Everton v Chelsea · 31' — on-field error below the clear-and-obvious threshold
- 2024-25 · Fulham v Liverpool · 5' — VAR missed an on-field error; Kelleher is nowhere near the ball, wipes out Pereira and the contact is significant
- 2023-24 · Liverpool v Arsenal · 19' — VAR missed an on-field error
- 2023-24 · Luton v Sheffield Utd · 33' — VAR intervened wrongly
- 2023-24 · Luton v Sheffield Utd · 49' — VAR intervened wrongly