John Edmund Cornwall Brooks (born 1990) is an English professional football referee who has primarily officiated in the Premier League since 2021.

[17] Brooks refereed his first Premier League game of the 2022–23 season on 13 August 2022 between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham at the Molineux stadium.

[20] On 11 February 2023, Brooks, as the video assistant referee, wrongly ruled out a goal by Brighton & Hove Albion's Pervis Estupiñán against Crystal Palace.

Cooper claimed that there was a foul on Morgan Gibbs-White in the build up to Abdoulaye Doucouré's goal, whilst Dyche said that he was "amazed" that Everton did not get a penalty after Séamus Coleman went down after a challenge from Jack Colback.

[24] Cooper subsequently called for a review into Brooks' display and Nottingham Forest made a formal complaint about the standard of referees.

His last game came on the final day of the season between Brentford and Premier League champions Manchester City at the Gtech Community stadium on 28 May 2023.

[35] His first refereed Premier League game of the season came on 12 August 2023 between Sheffield United and Crystal Palace at Bramall Lane.

[38] In the match, he showed a straight red card to Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk for a DOGSO on Newcastle forward Alexander Isak.

[54][55] On 26 November 2023, Brooks was the referee for Manchester United's 3–0 win over Everton at Goodison Park,[56] in which Alejandro Garnacho scored the opening goal; which was a bicycle kick which later won the Puskás award.

[59] He later refereed France's 14–0 victory over Gibraltar at the Allianz Riviera on 18 November 2023, which was the largest win in the history of the European Championship qualifiers.

[61][62] He refereed the UEFA Youth League final between Olympiacos and Milan at Colovray Stadium, Nyon in Switzerland on 22 April 2024.

[63] Brooks refereed two FA cup games during the season, firstly during the third round on 7 January 2024 between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates stadium.

[69] He was appointed to referee the 2024 FA Community Shield, but sustained a minor injury the week before the final was due to be played, and he was replaced by Jarred Gillett.

[13] During the first half, Brooks awarded a penalty to Liverpool for a foul by Levi Colwill on Curtis Jones, which Mohamed Salah then scored.

Brooks awarded a second penalty to Liverpool for Robert Sánchez's challenge on Jones, but changed his decision after being recommended to review at the pitchside monitor by VAR Michael Oliver.

[77] After the match, Liverpool manager Arne Slot accused Brooks of wanting to show that he was not able to give the decisions he had to make whilst referring to the Anfield atmosphere.

[78][79] Conversely, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said the referee was there to "make decisions", and claimed that sometimes they were made "because of the noise", but also stated that "overall they did ok".

[13] Internationally, in the UEFA Europa League, Brooks refereed Ajax's 4–0 win over Besiktas at the Johan Cruyff Arena on 26 September 2024,[81] and Malmö FF's 2–2 draw with Galatasaray at the Eleda stadion on 12 December 2024.

[85] Numerous Chelsea players then surrounded Brooks due to the on-field decision, including Levi Colwill and Enzo Fernández, who were both then booked for dissent.