West Ham United v Nottingham Forest
Premier League, London Stadium, Sunday 18 May 2025, 2.15pm BST
Referee: Sam Barrott
Assistant Referees: Wade Smith and Akil Howson
Fourth Official: Matt Donohue
VAR: Darren England
Assistant VAR: Mark Scholes
Sam Barrott has been confirmed as the referee for West Ham United’s final home clash of the 2024/25 Premier League season, against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
A former Halifax Town youth player, who took up refereeing as a teenager after sustaining an injury, Barrott worked his way up the ranks and made the step up to the EFL from the National League list of officials at the end of the 2019/20 campaign.
He was promoted to Professional Game Match Officials Limited's (PGMOL) Select Group 2 ahead of 2023/24, not long before he took charge of a Premier League match for the first time in October 2023, when Fulham beat Sheffield United 3-1 at Craven Cottage.
Barrott's fifth outing in the top flight involved the Hammers, when a Dara O'Shea own-goal and a Tomáš Souček strike secured a dramatic 2-1 win over Burnley at Turf Moor in November 2023. After holding the whistle in a total of 15 Premier League games last term, including West Ham's goalless home draw with Brighton & Hove Albion in January 2024, he oversaw Oxford United's EFL League One Play-Off final win over Bolton Wanderers 12 months ago, and was then duly promoted to Select Group 1 ahead of 2024/25.
West Ham's 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea in September 2024 was one of the 22 Premier League fixtures Barrott has overseen this season, while he was also promoted to the international lists of FIFA and UEFA in December 2024, replacing Craig Pawson.
Wade Smith and Akil Howson will serve as the assistant referees at London Stadium.
Smith has run the line in the Premier League on 95 occasions, with the 0-0 stalemate at home to Everton in November 2024 the most recent of six Irons games he has been involved in.
Howson, meanwhile, is vastly experienced in the EFL, having worked at 264 Championship matches, while the most recent of his 48 outings in the top division saw Brentford secure a 2-0 win at Forest, in early May.
Matt Donohue will be the fourth official this weekend.
Donohue is well-versed as a referee in the EFL, and though he has never held the whistle in the Premier League, he has worked as the fourth official in the division 32 times. He has done so during six West Ham games, most recently the 1-1 draw away at AFC Bournemouth in December 2024.
Video Assistant Referee responsibilities will be overseen by Darren England.
The 39-year-old, who has been named as the fourth official for the FA Cup final between Crystal Palace and Manchester City on Saturday, refereed the Hammers for the eighth and most recent time in late April, when we fell to a narrow 3-2 defeat at Brighton.
