- Everton became the first PL club to go a season without a single VAR in their favour.
- Everton players suffered 60 fouls over 7 games without a single yellow card against.
- Premier League panel admitted Everton were wrongly denied crucial spot-kicks.
Evertonians continue to harbour a profound sense of injustice. For years, the fans have felt the sting from controversial officiating. And this season appears no different.
This trend has sparked immense frustration over the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) and the implementation of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology.
The 60-foul stat that baffles Evertonians
A damning recent statistic perfectly illustrates the depth of Everton’s refereeing problem. Over a stretch of seven consecutive Premier League matches at the tail end of last season, Everton players suffered 60 fouls.
Astoundingly, during that entire period, referees did not book a single opposition player for a foul committed against a player in royal blue This bizarre metric speaks directly to a wider belief that the Toffees are simply “officiated differently” compared to their Premier League counterparts. It implies that the bar for an opponent receiving a yellow card against Everton is unreasonably high.
The Gana Gueye red card
This sense of differing standards also extends to dismissals. While referees sent off Everton players last season for hair pulling, clapping an official, and pushing a teammate, not a single opposition player was dismissed against the club.
In fact, more Everton players were sent off for fouling Everton players last season than opposition players dismissed for fouling Everton players (Idrissa Gueye on Michael Keane against Manchester United).
Everton make unwanted Premier League VAR history
Data from the Premier League VAR table shows that Everton also have a right to feel aggrieved by the video officials. Data analysts calculate the ‘VAR Net Score’ by taking the total number of VAR interventions in a club’s favour and subtracting those that have gone against them.
Everton finished rock bottom of the league with a miserable VAR net score of -5. For context, the only other clubs with negative scores in that region were Brighton (-2) and Burnley (-3).
Worse still, Everton became the only club in Premier League history to not receive a single VAR overturn in their favour over an entire seaso. This is the first time this has happened sine the VAR was introduced seven years ago.
The most frustrating aspect for Evertonians is that this drought isn’t due to a lack of genuine incidents. The Premier League’s own independent Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel later admitted that officials wrongly denied Everton clear penalties in crucial clashes against Arsenal, West Ham United, and Manchester City.
A systemic issue: The penalty disparity
Similar injustices have also occured when it comes to penalties given against Everton
- Vs Leeds United: The referee awarded a highly questionable handball against James Tarkowski.
- Vs Brighton: The referee called a debatable handball against Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
The penalty league
Over the past three seasons, Everton have routinely found themselves near at the bottom of the penalties given league. In fact, referees have awarded the Toffees the exact same number of top-flight penalties as Leeds United over this period. This is despite the fact that Leeds spent two of those years playing down in the Championship.
These facts have driven Everton to lodge a formal complaint—heavily backed by an official Fans’ Forum open letter—with the PGMOL. The complaint demanded answers to this sense of inconsistency and apparent two-tier officiating
Conclusion: Coincidence or systemic bias?
The above paints a picture that is difficult to ignore. While every football club suffers from the occasional poor refereeing decision, the numbers surrounding Everton suggest something much more systemic than mere bad luck.
The PGMOL need to address these glaring statistical anomalies with transparency and accountability. Until then, Everton will continue to battle not just the eleven players on the pitch, but the flawed system operating the whistles and the screens.
