Match Officials Confirmed For 2025 FA Community Shield

The Football Association have confirmed the match officials for the 2025 FA Community Shield match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Wembley Stadium.

Kicking off at 15:00 BST on Sunday, 10th August, FA Cup winners Palace will make a first-ever appearance in the season’s traditional curtain raiser, facing Premier League champions Liverpool.

Season Ticket holders can now purchase up to three tickets per client reference number for the match at Wembley, whilst all Members can also buy for the fixture, with full information here.

Referee Chris Kavanagh will lead the teams out on the day.

Kavanagh officiated just one Palace game last season: our memorable 2-0 away win at Spurs in May.

This will be the fourth ‘final’ of Kavanagh’s career, having previously officiated the 2020 UEFA Youth League final between Real Madrid and Benfica; the 2021 Championship play-off final between Brentford and Swansea; and the 2024 League Cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool at Wembley.

The 39-year-old Manchester-born referee became a Select Group 1 referee for the 2017/18 season after working his way up the football pyramid.

Kavanagh started officiating in 1998 as a 13-year-old, plying his trade in local football, before being promoted to take charge of matches in the National League in 2012. He refereed in the Football League regularly from the 2014/15 season and in 2016/17 he was the man in the middle on 27 occasions for the EFL Championship campaign.

Prior to his promotion to Select Group 1 status, Kavanagh made his Premier League debut in April 2017 as West Bromwich Albion faced Southampton at The Hawthorns. He has since also refereed in all three major European club competitions, and on the international scene in the UEFA Nations League.

He took charge of 25 Premier League matches last season, issuing 111 yellow cards (4.44 per game) and showing his red card on five occasions.

Kavanagh will be assisted by experienced duo James Mainwaring and Wade Smith – who have run the line on 18 and 14 different occasions involving Palace respectively – with Tony Harrington, who has officiated in the top-flight since December 2021, serving as the fourth official.

As with the Premier League, VAR will be in use for the game.

You can see the full team of officials for the 2025 FA Community Shield below – and find out more about the origins of the competition right here.

FA COMMUNITY SHIELD: CRYSTAL PALACE V LIVERPOOL – MATCH OFFICIALS

• Referee: Chris Kavanagh
• Assistant Referee: James Mainwaring
• Assistant Referee: Wade Smith
• Fourth Official: Tony Harrington
• Reserve Assistant Referee: Akil Howson
• VAR: Paul Tierney
• Assistant VAR: Nick Hopton

MATCH DETAILS

• Crystal Palace v Liverpool
• Sunday, 10th August
• 15:00 BST
• FA Community Shield
• Wembley Stadium

Cpfc.co.uk