Three Premier League officials have stepped down after the 2025/26 season with a statement released by the PGMOL on Thursday
The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) have confirmed that three Premier League officials have retired from officiating. Referee Darren Bond and assistant referees Natalie Aspinall and Marc Perry have hung up their whistles after the 2025/26 season concluded.
Meanwhile, referee Jeremy Simpson and assistant referee Mark Russell have called it a day in the Championship, while referee Cristiana Hattersley has retired from WSL duty. Confirmation of Bond’s retirement came after he had not refereed a Premier League match since Arsenal’s 2-1 win at Southampton on the final day of the 2024/25 campaign.
But news of him stepping down was only confirmed on the PGMOL’s official X account on Thursday. They said: “We thank each of them for their years of dedication, professionalism and commitment to the game.”
Bond made his Premier League debut on January 3, 2023, in Fulham’s 1–0 win away to Leicester City. The 48-year-old is a Wigan Athletic fan – barring him from ever officiating their matches.
Attention on officials is currently on the World Cup this summer. High-profile Premier League referees Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor are amongst those handpicked by FIFA from England.
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Oliver will return to action this week after being forced to pull out of his first scheduled game through injury. The English official was due to oversee the clash between Ecuador and the Ivory Coast in the early hours of Monday morning, but he was replaced by French referee Francois Letexier.
And it appears that the injury was not too bad, with FIFA confirming that he would be available for selection again ‘in the coming days’. That appears to be the case, with confirmation that he has been selected for the Group F clash between the Netherlands and Sweden on Saturday (6pm kick-off).
The game will take place at Houston Stadium in Houston, USA. He will be assisted by fellow Premier League officials Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring. South African officials Abongile Tom and Zakhele Siwela will serve as the fourth official and reserve assistant referee.
It’s not the first time that Oliver has refereed in the World Cup, having been appointed for the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
During that tournament, he oversaw the quarter-final clash between Croatia and Brazil. Oliver has been an international referee since 2012 and part of UEFA’s elite group of officials since 2018.
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