John Edmund Cornwall Brooks (born 1990) is an English professional football referee who has primarily officiated in the Premier League since 2021. He has been a UEFA First Category referee since 2024, and was previously an assistant referee in the Premier League.
| Full name | John Edmund Cornwall Brooks | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
1990 (age 33–34) Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England | ||
| Other occupation | Insurance Broker | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2012–2016 | Premier League | Assistant referee | |
| 2014–2016 | Football Conference | Referee | |
| 2016– | English Football League | Referee | |
| 2021– | Premier League | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2015–2016 | FIFA listed | Assistant referee | |
| 2023– | FIFA listed | Referee | |
Brooks began refereeing in 2004, and became a Select Group assistant referee in 2012 and then a FIFA listed international assistant referee in 2015. He began refereeing in the Football Conference League in 2014, before becoming an EFL referee in 2016. He was promoted to Select Group 2 in 2018, before his promotion to Select Group 1 in June 2021. He was promoted to the FIFA list of international referees in 2023.
Early life and education
editJohn Edmund Cornwall Brooks was born in 1990 in Melton Mowbray, to Edmund Hugh Cornwall Brooks (1949–1990) and Sally Ann Taylor. His father died in a car accident in 1990.[1]
Brooks attended Loughborough Grammar school.[2]
Career
editEarly career (2004–2021)
editBrooks began refereeing in the local leagues in Leicestershire in 2004 at the age of 14.[3] He began refereeing adult football at the age of 16.[4] He also worked at an insurance brokers before becoming a professional referee.[4]
Brooks began officiating as an assistant referee at Premier League level at the age of 21.[5] In 2011, he was promoted to the national list of assistant referees, and in 2012 he was promoted to the Select Group of assistant referees.[6] He was promoted to the FIFA list of international assistant referees in 2015.[7]
Brooks was an assistant referee at the 2014 Football League Championship play-off final and the 2015 FA Community Shield. He was also an assistant referee to Mark Clattenburg at the 2016 FA Cup final.[6]
Brooks began refereeing in the Conference League at the start of the 2014–2015 season, before moving up to Football League in the 2016–2017 season.[3][8] He was promoted to Select Group 2 at the start of the 2018–2019 season.[9] He refereed the 2018 FA Vase final between Stockton Town and Thatcham Town.[10]
Premier League and FIFA list (2021–present)
edit2021–22 season
editBrooks was promoted to the Select Group of referees in June 2021.[11][10] In December 2021, Brooks refereed his first Premier League match between Wolves and Burnley at Molineux.[12]
2022–23 season
editOn 11 February 2023, Brooks, as the video assistant referee, wrongly ruled out a goal by Brighton & Hove Albion's Pervis Estupiñán against Crystal Palace. A technician tasked with drawing the lines failed to draw the line to the deepest Crystal Palace defender and mistakenly identified James Tomkins as the Crystal Palace player closest to his own goal when it was actually his team-mate Marc Guéhi.[13][14] After the image was presented to Brooks, he misjudged the situation and unintentionally ruled out Brighton & Hove's goal. An emergency meeting was convened by PGMOL head Howard Webb after the incident. Following the meeting, Brooks was subsequently dropped for his next two matches.[15]
2023–24 season
editBrooks was promoted to the FIFA list of international referees at the start of the 2023–2024 season.[16] He refereed Portugal's 9–0 win over Luxemburg on 11 September 2023.[17] Brooks refereed France's 14–0 victory over Gibraltar at the Allianz Riviera on 18 November 2023, which was the largest win in the history of the European Championship qualifiers.[18] He refereed the 2024 EFL Championship play-off final between Southampton and Leeds at Wembley on 26 May 2024.[19] He was appointed to referee the 2024 FA Community Shield, but sustained a minor injury the week before the final was due to be played, and he was replaced by Jarred Gillett.[20]
2024–25 season
editBrooks was promoted to the UEFA first category of referees at the start of the 2024–2025 season.[21]
Career statistics
edit| Season[22] | Competition(s) | Games[a] | Total 
|
per game
|
Total 
|
per game
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–13 | Premier League U21 D1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013–14 | Premier League U21 D1 | 3 | 7 | 2.3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014–15 | Conference League | 15 | 70 | 4.7 | 3 | 0.2 |
| 2015–16 | National League | 17 | 41 | 2.4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016–17 | League Two, League One | 27 | 124 | 4.6 | 8 | 0.3 |
| 2017–18 | EFL Championship, FA Cup, EFL Cup | 9 | 30 | 3.3 | 1 | 0.1 |
| 2018–19 | 28 | 116 | 4.1 | 3 | 0.1 | |
| 2019–20 | 32 | 116 | 3.6 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2020–21 | EFL Championship, EFL Championship play-offs , FA Cup, EFL Cup, League Two | 30 | 103 | 3.4 | 5 | 0.2 |
| 2021–22 | Premier League, EFL Championship, EFL Cup, League Two, European Qualifiers | 18 | 58 | 3.2 | 2 | 0.1 |
| 2022–23 | Premier League, EFL Championship, FA Cup, EFL Cup, U21 European Qualifiers | 28 | 113 | 4 | 3 | 0.1 |
| 2023–24 | Premier League, EFL Championship, EFL Championship play-offs , FA Cup, EFL Cup, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Youth League, UEFA Europa Conference League Qualifiers | 33 | 148 | 4.5 | 5 | 0.2 |
List of officiated domestic finals
edit| 2014 Football League Championship play-off final | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Match | Venue | Role |
| 24 May 2014 | Derby County – Queens Park Rangers | Wembley Stadium | Assistant referee |
| 2015 FA Community Shield | |||
| Date | Match | Venue | Role |
| 2 August 2015 | Arsenal – Chelsea | Wembley Stadium | Assistant referee |
| 2016 FA Cup final | |||
| Date | Match | Venue | Role |
| 21 May 2016 | Crystal Palace – Manchester United | Wembley Stadium | Assistant referee |
| 2018 FA Vase final | |||
| Date | Match | Venue | Role |
| 20 May 2018 | Stockton Town – Thatcham Town | Wembley Stadium | Referee |
| 2024 EFL Championship play-off final | |||
| Date | Match | Venue | Role |
| 26 May 2024 | Leeds United – Southampton | Wembley Stadium | Referee |
Notes
edit- ^ Total number of games for all competitions listed
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Kidd, Charles; Shaw, Christine (2010). Peerage & Baronetage 2011. Debrett's. ISBN 978-1-870520-73-7.
- ^ "Beyond the Barrier - Spring 2016 by Loughborough Schools Foundation - Issuu". issuu.com. 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
- ^ a b "Referee John Brooks to boss Everton game". Fulhamweb. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
- ^ a b PGMOL (2024-04-04). What is it REALLY like to be a Premier League referee? | Behind the scenes with John Brooks. Retrieved 2024-12-23 – via YouTube.
- ^ Lawrence, Amy (2015-03-28). "Meet the new men in black training to make Premier League tough calls". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
- ^ a b "FA Cup Final honour for Asfordby ref John Brooks". Melton Times. 2016-05-19. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
- ^ "John Brooks the man in charge tomorrow night". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
- ^ "Man in the middle | John Brooks | Swansea". www.swanseacity.com. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
- ^ "EFL Official Website - Select Group 2 Match Officials". 2018-07-30. Archived from the original on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
- ^ a b "Four new referees for 2021/22 Premier League".
- ^ "Asfordby referee John Brooks promoted to Premier League". Melton Times. 2021-07-07. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
- ^ "New Premier League ref John Brooks takes charge at Brighton".
- ^ "VAR technician was partly to blame for John Brooks error during Crystal Palace vs Brighton - The Athletic". The Athletic. 2023-02-27. Archived from the original on 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Decision made as VAR official punished after Brighton blunder at Crystal Palace". SussexWorld. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- ^ MacInnes, Paul (2023-02-13). "Referee John Brooks taken off VAR duty for two matches after Brighton error". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- ^ "Inside FIFA". inside.fifa.com. Archived from the original on 2024-10-07. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
- ^ "Portugal 9-0 Luxembourg (11 Sep, 2023) Game Analysis - ESPN (UK)". ESPN. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
- ^ "France 14-0 Gibraltar (18 Nov, 2023) Game Analysis - ESPN (UK)". ESPN. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
- ^ "Southampton 1-0 Leeds (26 May, 2024) Game Analysis - ESPN (UK)". ESPN. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
- ^ Association, The Football. "Gillett to referee Community Shield". www.thefa.com. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
- ^ Boyle, Callum (2024-06-22). "Premier League referee relegated from UEFA list". JOE.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
- ^ "Refereeing career John Brooks as a referee | BeSoccer". www.besoccer.com. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
External links
edit- John Brooks referee profile at Soccerway