Matt Donohue is an English football referee born in Southend, England. He made his Premier League debut on 11 May 2024. Donohue is a Southend-born, Greater Manchester-based official who progressed from assistant refereeing into on-field appointments.
Matt Donohue is an English football referee born in Southend, England. He made his Premier League debut on 11 May 2024. Donohue is a Southend-born, Greater Manchester-based official who progressed from assistant refereeing into on-field appointments. 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, Donohue has officiated 3 league matches, averaging 26.33 fouls, 0.67 penalties, 5.00 yellow cards and 0.00 red cards per game. Those numbers point to a strict and card-heavy profile, with a high foul count and frequent stoppages, a noticeable tendency to award penalties, heavy yellow-card output, and no red cards in his Premier League sample so far. For The VAR Verdict, that statistical snapshot helps readers understand the disciplinary threshold and general tone he has shown this season.
Matt Donohue is presented with a data-first profile based on publicly available information and the statistics entered in the referee database.
Referee style: Strict and card-heavy.
