Referee Blocked from Liverpool Matches to Officiate Arsenal vs. Man City Final
Experienced Premier League official Peter Bankes will referee the Carabao Cup final between Arsenal and Manchester City. The appointment was announced on March 11. The match will be held at Wembley on Sunday.
Why Bankes cannot take Liverpool or Everton games
Bankes is registered to the Liverpool County FA. Premier League referees must disclose club allegiances and local FA ties. This prevents them from officiating matches involving those teams.
The rules also bar officials from taking charge of fixtures that could directly affect a disclosed team. As a result, he is unavailable for both Liverpool and Everton games. This situation has been summarised under the line Referee Blocked from Liverpool Matches to Officiate Arsenal vs. Man City Final.
Match officiating team at Wembley
Neil Davies and Steve Meredith will serve as assistant referees. Marc Perry is the reserve assistant. Tom Bramall will be the fourth official.
There will be VAR for the final. John Brooks is the video assistant referee. Dan Robathan will assist him in the VAR role.
Career record with Arsenal and Manchester City
Bankes has refereed Arsenal 14 times in his career. Arsenal won 10 of those matches. They drew once and lost three.
Across his matches involving Manchester City, the record stands at six wins, one draw and five defeats. One of those defeats was a 5-1 loss to Arsenal last season. In his City fixtures, there has been one sending-off, occurring in 2021.
Recent season statistics
He was promoted to the Premier League’s ‘A’ List for the 2019/20 season. His county FA publicly congratulated him at that time. That promotion marked his entry to the top-tier refereeing group.
In the 2025/26 Premier League campaign he has refereed 22 matches. He awarded six penalties and issued four red cards. Two of those red cards were shown in the same match in September.
The final at Wembley promises a high-stakes contest between two of England’s top sides. Filmogaz.com will provide coverage and analysis as the game approaches.
