Two particularly unpopular refs who will start the season demoted to the Nationwide list will be Paul Alcock and Uriah Rennie. Alcock is famous for the Hillsborough debacle of 1998, when he made a fool of himself by falling to the ground comically after a light shove from Paolo Di Canio, and then sending Martin Keown off for trying to calm things down (a red card which was subsequently overturned). We won't miss Alcock, we've won only 4 of the 9 Arsenal games he has presided over.

Rennie on the other hand, may be missed. Although much maligned for his bizarre red cards and self-aggrandisement, he has a splendid record in Arsenal matches: 6 wins, 1 draw. If only all officials could perform to the same high standard.

See Refs & discipline section for full refs stats from Marc Norden. They've just been updated to include all of last season's data, including, as Marc puts it, "dodgy Spanish refs who don't allow challenges in the penalty area".