The match this weekend will be the Magpies’ first under new ownership and, in front of a full house at what is sure to be a raucous St. James’ Park, Marriner has been selected to oversee proceedings.

The 50-year-old has been a regular on the top flight circuit for 16 years, having first been promoted to Select Group level in 2005.

Birmingham-born Marriner, who began his career officiating in his hometown’s Amateur Football League in the 1990s, worked his way up through the Southern League and the Football League, where he operated as both an assistant referee and a referee.

He was also a FIFA-listed official between 2009 and 2017, while one of the highlights of his time in the game came in 2013 when he was the man in the middle of the FA Cup final, which ended with Wigan Athletic shocking Manchester City to lift the trophy at Wembley.

Sunday’s fixture will be Marriner’s fourth outing of the campaign so far, with each of his previous three having also come in the Premier League. He has dished out 15 yellow cards so far this term, but is yet to issue a red.

Interestingly, Marriner only issued one red card in the entirety of the 2020/21 season, a year which saw him make 31 outings in all of the English domestic competitions. Among them were two Newcastle game – the Boxing Day defeat at Manchester City and the 1-1 draw at Liverpool in April.

He will be assisted by Richard West and Scott Ledger on Sunday, while Andy Madley will be the fourth official.

Chris Kavanagh has been named as VAR, and will be assisted by Dan Cook.