Aston Villa's Premier League journey to the south coast this Wednesday will be overseen by a match official at the centre of one of last season's most bizarre on-field moments. The Premier League has confirmed that Andy Madley will referee the crucial clash between Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa at the Amex Stadium.
The 'Extraordinary' Molineux Incident
Madley was the man in charge during Villa's West Midlands derby away at Wolverhampton Wanderers in February 2025. The game was punctuated by an unusual incident that left players, fans, and commentators baffled. As Wolves prepared to make a double substitution, Madley abruptly halted play. He then proceeded to count the number of players on the pitch using his fingers, apparently to verify that no one had left the field without permission.
Reports suggested the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) had instructed the check, but the visual of a top-flight official counting out players was likened to amateur football. A commentator at the time described it as "extraordinary scenes" that "beggared belief", while one social media user quipped: "What in the Sunday league is going on here at Wolves." The stoppage lasted around three minutes, leaving the waiting substitutes furious on the touchline.
Match Officials and Villa's Current Form
For the Brighton fixture, Madley will be assisted by Nick Hopton and Craig Taylor, with Ruebyn Ricardo as fourth official. The VAR booth will be manned by John Brooks, assisted by Dan Robathan. Villa travel to Brighton in superb form, seeking a fourth consecutive Premier League victory. Another win would make it eight triumphs in nine league outings, solidifying their position in the top four against a Brighton side sitting just behind them in fifth.
Unai Emery's side ground out a 1-0 derby win over Wolves last weekend thanks to Boubacar Kamara's superb strike. They will look to complete a league double over Wolves when they return to Molineux in February 2026.
Controversy and Expert Criticism
The counting debacle was not the only controversy from that February 2025 defeat for Villa, who lost the match 2-0. They also had a goal disallowed when Morgan Rogers was adjudged to have obstructed Nelson Semedo from an offside position.
Speaking to Football Insider, former PGMOL chief and FIFA referee Keith Hackett criticised the officiating team's "confused" failure. He stated the laws are clear that a player must have the referee's permission to leave the pitch, and highlighted the fourth official's role in tracking substitutions. "One wonders if they are doing the job if they did not realise that a player had left the field of play," Hackett said.
Madley's most recent Villa appointment was in September 2025, a 3-1 home victory over Fulham which was Villa's first league win of that season. On that occasion, decisions favoured the Villans, with Fulham denied a penalty for a Matty Cash handball and Josh King controversially booked for diving against goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
