No matter what team you support, we all have a preference when it comes to which referee is assigned to mediate your club’s most important games – whether that is because they are a lucky charm or just an outright jinx.

We all have our superstitions and lucky charms when it comes to match day, shall we say – but what if your teams’ fortune depended on which ref you had overseeing the match?

Certain refs are synonymous with causing controversy, and some more than others are affiliated with one particular team over another, occasionally, this doesn’t go down well with fans.

TOFFS (The Old Fashioned Football Shirt Company) has put together a concise package of stats and statistics that depict a ref’s influence on a particular club during match day, dating back from the 2009-10 season all the way up to the present 2019-20 season.

The study is split into two categories; luckiest refs and unluckiest based on win percentage, and having officiated at least 10 games.

Arsenal

Luckiest refs:

Mike Jones – 80% (16 out of 20 games)

Jon Moss – 78.26 % (18 out of 23 games)

Howard Webb - 73.33% (16 out of 20 games)

Unluckiest refs:

Michael Oliver - 22.22% (6 out of 27 games)

Stuart Atwell – 25% (3 out of 12 games)

Mike Dean – 37.84% (14 out of 37 games)

Arsenal’s relationship with Mike Dean for instance is strained to say the least. An online petition once called for Dean to be banned from refereeing another Arsenal match – the petition received more than 100,000 signatures!

p1eb44bda45im1fgfqr3b0a106nf.jpg

Dean has also been known to be slightly trigger-happy when it comes to dishing out cards to Arsenal players, but that’s another story.

Aston Villa

Luckiest refs:

Lee Probert – 42.86% (6 out of 14 games)

Mike Jones – 41.67% (5 out of 12 games)

Mark Halsey – 40% (4 out of 10 games)

Unluckiest refs:

Phil Dowd – 7.14% (1 out of 14 games)

Mike Dean – 13.04% (3 out of 23 games)

Neil Swarbrick – 13.33% (2 out of 15 games)

Bournemouth

Luckiest refs:

Kevin Friend – 61.54% (8 out of 13 games)

Paul Tierney – 45.45% (5 out of 11 games)

Mike Dean – 5 out of 15 games)

Unluckiest refs:

Lee Mason – 8.33% (1 out of 12 games)

Martin Atkinson – 16.67 (2 out of 12 games)

Jon Moss – 20% (2 out of 10 games)

Brighton & Hove Albion

Luckiest refs:

Craig Pawson – 50% (3 out of 6 games)

p1eb44cteohoihhd1br166p18inh.jpg

Mike Dean – 37.5% (3 out of 8 games)

Kevin Friend – 36.36% (4 out of 11 games)

Unluckiest refs:

Jon Moss – 0% (0 out of 6 games)

Chris Kavanagh – 11.11% (1 out of 9 games)

Michael Oliver – 12.5% (1 out of 8 games)

Burnley

Luckiest refs:

Martin Atkinson – 55% (11 out of 20 games)

Mike Jones – 45.45% (5 out of 11 games)

Mike Dean – 28.57% (6 out of 21 games)

Unluckiest refs:

Michael Oliver – 8.33% (1 out of 12 games)

Jon Moss – 14.29% (2 out of 14 games)

Lee Mason – 20% (2 out of 10 games)

Chelsea

Luckiest refs:

Neil Swarbrick – 83.33% (10 out of 12 games)

p1eb44eql6s01d0h1bo3144dlkfj.jpg

Jon Moss – 69.57% (16 out of 23 games)

Lee Mason – 68% (17 out of 25 games)

Unluckiest refs:

Kevin Friend – 45% (9 out of 20 games)

Michael Oliver – 48.28% (14 out 29 games)

Andre Marriner – 48.48% (16 out of 33 games)

Crystal Palace

Luckiest refs:

Lee Mason – 50% (6 out of 12 games)

Anthony Taylor – 36.84% (7 out of 19 games)

Michael Oliver – 36% (9 out of 25 games)

Unluckiest refs:

Kevin Friend – 7.69% (1 out of 13 games)

Mark Clattenburg – 8.33% (1 out of 12 games)

p1eb44gfm1bc31ps211ro1kgqb4ql.jpg

Mike Jones – 20% (2 out of 10 games)

Everton

Luckiest refs:

Paul Tierney – 60% (6 out of 10 games)

Neil Swarbrick – 54.55% (6 out of 11 games)

Peter Walton – 53.85% (7 out of 13 games)

Unluckiest refs:

Craig Pawson – 20% (3 out of 15 games)

Jon Moss – 25% (6 out of 24 games)

Martin Atkinson – 25.93% (7out of 27 games)

Leicester City

Luckiest refs:

Anthony Taylor – 53.33% (8 out of 15 games)

Michael Oliver – 52.17% (12 out of 23 games)

p1eb44i9811k0i80btcp15oijban.jpg

Mike Dean – 38.1% (8 out of 21 games)

Unluckiest refs:

Martin Atkinson – 18.75% (3 out of 16 games)

Craig Pawson – 20% (3 out of 15 games)

Chris Kavanagh – 27.27% (3 out of 11 games)

Liverpool

Luckiest refs: 

Lee Probert - 76.92% (10 out of 13 games)

Craig Pawson - 66.67% (12 out of 18 games)

Kevin Friend - 65.38% (17 out of 26 games)

Unluckiest refs:

Howard Webb - 26.32% (5 out of 19 games)

p1eb44k3ded04c691m231pgb1glpp.jpg

Mike Jones - 41.67% (5 out of 12 games)

Andre Marriner - 48.72% (19 out of 39 games)

Whatever your belief, stats don’t lie – in this first half look at the top-flight clubs’ best and worst referees, we have certainly seen a few big names mentioned more than once, for more than one club!

To see Manchester City through to Wolves, please click here.