Middlesbrough will face Hull City in the Championship play-off final at Wembley on Saturday for a place in the Premier League
Stuart Jamieson Football Content Editor
09:05, 22 May 2026Updated 09:15, 22 May 2026
Aidan Morris of Middlesbrough speaks to referee Jarred Gillett at Ipswich(Image: Getty Images)
Jarred Gillett has been appointed as the referee for Saturday’s Championship play-off final between Middlesbrough and Hull City at Wembley, in a move that may not go down well with Boro fans.
After two weeks of Spygate controversy, Kim Hellberg and his players are solely focusing on the task in hand, with a victory for the Teessiders on Saturday afternoon meaning a place in the Premier League next season.
The game has been mired in the Southampton spying drama, with Boro’s participation only confirmed on Tuesday, and then rubber-stamped when the Saints’ appeal was dismissed on Wednesday night.
Now it’s all about the game itself for Boro and their army of fans heading to the capital, with the action getting under way at 3.30pm underneath the famous arch.
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However, eyebrows will have been raised when the match officials were announced, even though respected Premier League official Gillett was handed the big game.
That is because he was the referee in charge of Boro’s 2-2 draw at Ipswich Town in April, a match that saw Boro denied a precious victory thanks to a late penalty.
With Boro leading 2-1 heading into the dying stages, Ipswich striker George Hirst went down in the box after the slightest of touches from Adilson Malanda, with Gillett awarding a spot-kick. Replays showed that while Malanda did slightly pull Hirst back, the Ipswich striker was not going to get to the ball
Jack Clarke scored the resultant penalty to earn the home side a point and sent Boro back to Teesside fuming at the decision.
However, things will be different at Wembley as VAR will be in play. The video assistant system has plenty of critics, but would likely have advised Gillett to overturn the decision at Portman Road.
Speaking after the Ipswich game, Boro defender Luke Ayling could’t hde his frustration, saying: “We’re gutted. We’re angry. First half we found it tricky, but you’ll always get that coming to a place like this. It’s a hard place to come and play football.
“Second half I feel like we really took over the game though, and played really well. We pinned them in their half for long spells and scored a great goal. The penalty is an absolutely baffling decision.
“We’ve come here and been given three fouls all game. In a game like this, where we’re talking the ball like we did, I find it hard to believe we only got three fouls given for us. Then the penalty…
“I know fans are biased to their own team, but I don’t think there’ll be one fan that goes away tonight and thinks that’s a penalty. The ball is pretty much out of play before Adi even touches him.
“OK, he might make some contact, but the ball has gone. There ain’t no way he is scoring from there, and it’s never a foul, it’s never a penalty. In a game like that, to have that go against us, it’s baffling.”
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