Leeds United and Southampton will face off at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, with a Premier League position on the line.
Premier League referee John Brooks will take control of Sunday’s Championship play-off final between Leeds United and Southampton.
Brooks, who has previously played in UEFA European Championship qualifying and the Europa Conference League, will be the man in the middle as Leeds and Southampton compete for a place in the top tier. The Select Group 1 referee will lead a seven-person team of officials in one of England’s most important one-off games.
Brooks, a regular top-flight referee, has only dropped down to the Championship once this season. Coincidentally, that was for Leeds’ 3-1 loss to Southampton at St Mary’s in September, a game in which Adam Armstrong appeared to be offside when scoring the first goal.
“The first goal would have been ruled out for offside by VAR,” Farke explained at the time. “But there is no VAR in the Championship, so you have to drop a little quicker to defend Armstrong’s run.” Fortunately, Brooks will have the assistance of VAR this time around.
Despite not being used during the regular season, VAR will be used in the final, as it was in the League One and League Two play-off finals, because Wembley Stadium possesses the necessary technology. Jarred Gillet, an Australian, will be in charge of VAR after impressing Leeds fans as the referee in last week’s 4-0 semi-final second leg victory over Norwich City.
Gillet refused to fall for some of Norwich’s devious tactics, particularly those of striker Ashley Barnes, and looked to get every critical decision right. The Australian will have less clout this time around, but he should be able to spot any serious errors.
Brooks will be refereeing for the first time in a play-off final on Sunday, having previously worked at Wembley Stadium for the FA Vase final in 2018. The Leicestershire-born official has previously served as an assistant referee at Wembley Stadium in the 2016 FA Cup final and the 2014 Championship play-off final.
The following is the complete list of appointments, as verified by the EFL:
Referee: John Brooks.
Assistant referees: Simon Bennett and Dan Robathan.
Fourth official: Tony Harrington.
Akil Howson serves as a reserve assistant referee.
Jarred Gillett serves as the VAR.
Assistant VAR: Darren Cann.
