Fulham fans won't be happy with FA announcement for Crystal Palace

Fulham host Crystal Palace in FA Cup quarter final this weekend with the winner booking a place at Wembley Stadium next month.

It’s the second time the two sides have met on the banks of the Thames in 2025 with Oliver Glasner’s side claiming a 2-0 win in Premier League action in February. It was a Joachim Andersen own goal and Daniel Munoz strike that did the damage against the Cottagers that day and Marco Silva will be looking for a response this weekend.

The FA has confirmed the match officials for the FA Cup quarter final and the appointment of Darren England may not be music to the ears of Fulham supporters. The referee has been on the receiving end of criticism from Silva already this season.

England was in charge when Aston Villa came back from a 1-0 deficit to beat Fulham 3-1 at Craven Cottage in October. Raul Jimenez opened the scoring in that game after just five minutes before the Villains responded through Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and an Issa Diop own goal.

After the match, it was a second half red card to Joachim Andersen that had Silva spitting feathers. The centre-back was shown a straight red card for a shove on Ollie Watkins with Villa going on to find their winner after Andersen had left the pitch.

Fulham vs Crystal Palace referee confirmed

Silva said: "For me the referees are trying not to go for soft touches. It happened already for us against West Ham, they explained us it was soft but two or three weeks later you see a completely different situation and not consistent to what we've seen week in or week out in the Premier League..

"I'm not going to find excuses in the referee as to why we lost the game. We're all confused, we all don't understand, even for you, for fans for staff, managers and players, we're all confused because when things happen we try to understand why and respect. They explained us why [vs West Ham] and now completely changed the decision."

It’s not the first time that Silva has been left frustrated following a game with England appointed as referee. The official was in charge when the side was beaten 4-1 by Newcastle United in October 2022.

Nathaniel Chalobah was sent off for Fulham that day, but England had initially shown the defender a yellow card for a tackle on Sean Longstaff. VAR official Mike Dean advised England to check the monitor and he then brandished a red card.

Marco Silva on Darren England ‘consistency’

That day, Silva said: “We had a game until the sixth or eighth minute after that it was a completely different game. It was a harsh tackle from Nathaniel in that moment. The referee was clear, for him [it was] a yellow card, he told me. Of course after the decision from Mike Dean, it changed everything completely. So long time to take one decision like that and to advise the referee [to change his mind] for me is strange.

“Of course it was a harsh tackle but I’m 100 percent sure I haven’t seen consistency in these types of situations. I’m 100 percent sure that in the next few weeks we will see more tackles like that one and they’ll be a yellow card. That is tough for us to understand. Where is the consistency in these types of decisions? It makes things easier for Newcastle definitely, even so, I think our first half after the red card was not at the level it should be.

“[We were] too sloppy, we knew that with 10 players they would push us back. It is normal, it is difficult to press really high in that type of moments. When we are playing in our own half we should be much more aggressive. It was a strange afternoon for all the situations, the red card, the decisions from Mike Dean as well that I know will not be the same in the future.

“I can accept the red card if the next 10 weeks, 20 weeks, I would see the same and I’m sure that will not be the same, this is the situation. In five weeks we will be speaking together again and there will be four or five tackles the same that will not be a red card.”

In other news, this is the latest on Jean-Phillipe Mateta’s injury ahead of the FA Cup quarter final.