Craig Pawson is an English football referee born in Sheffield, England on 2 March 1979. He made his Premier League debut on 2 March 2013. He has been FIFA-listed since 2015. Pawson is a veteran English referee who has handled Premier League matches since 2013.
Craig Pawson is an English football referee born in Sheffield, England on 2 March 1979. He made his Premier League debut on 2 March 2013. He has been FIFA-listed since 2015. Pawson is a veteran English referee who has handled Premier League matches since 2013. He is part of the current Premier League officiating pool and is regularly relevant for pre-match analysis, appointment previews and VAR-focused discussion.
In the 2025/26 Premier League season, Pawson has officiated 17 league matches, averaging 21.35 fouls, 0.29 penalties, 2.47 yellow cards and 0.12 red cards per game. Those numbers point to a balanced but firm profile, with a relatively restrained yellow-card average. For The VAR Verdict, that statistical snapshot helps readers understand the disciplinary threshold and general tone he has shown this season.
Craig Pawson is presented with a data-first profile based on publicly available information and the statistics entered in the referee database.
Referee style: Balanced but firm.
