Referee appointed for Newcastle’s trip to Wolves was once booed ‘by all four corners’ of St James’ Park

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The Premier League have appointed Chris Kavanagh as the referee for Newcastle United’s trip to Wolves on Sunday afternoon.

The Magpies will hope to remain unbeaten when their Premier League campaign resumes with a trip to the Molineux Stadium.

It has been a scrappy start to the season for Newcastle United but they entered the first international break fifth in the league table.

Eddie Howe will hope to pick up another three points on Sunday afternoon, and the Premier League have announced that referee Chris Kavanagh will take charge of the fixture.

Kavanagh has overseen Newcastle 27 times in his career – more than any other club – but against Wolves will be his first time refereeing the Tyneside outfit this season.

Chris Kavanagh was booed by St James’ Park

Kavanagh took charge of four Premier League games that involved Newcastle last season and the Magpies lost all of them.

But perhaps his worst performance came back in the 2022-23 season when Kavanagh refereed Arsenal’s trip to St James’ Park.

The match took place in May with Newcastle on the brink of securing a top-four finish, while Arsenal were trying to keep their title hopes alive.

The Gunners emerged with three points after winning 2-0 and Newcastle supporters made their feelings known after the full-time whistle by booing Kavanagh off the pitch.

Journalist Ciaran Kelly posted at the time: “Boos from all four corners as referee Chris Kavanagh makes his way off at full-time.”

Newcastle were denied a penalty in the first half after VAR overturned a handball decision on Jakub Kiwior. Kavanagh had initially pointed to the spot but was advised to change his mind.

Arsenal continued to frustrate the home crowd with time-wasting antics and Dan Burn and Joelinton both issued complaints to the referee.

Ultimately, Arsenal walked away with the points after a well-balanced clash. The decisions simply didn’t go in Newcastle’s favour that day.

Newcastle must push on after international break

Newcastle’s record under Kavanagh is alarming, but it’s now down to Eddie Howe and his squad to put that behind them and push on.

It has been a strong start to the season in terms of results, but performances must improve if Newcastle are going to challenge for a top six – or dare I say top four – finish.

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There have been several strong performances from Newcastle players over the break. Alexander Isak has been superb for Sweden and Lewis Hall put in a Player of the Match performance for England’s Under-21s.

Wolves are winless in their opening three games and Newcastle must keep that record intact after Sunday.