Championship Referee Appointments

Referees. They’re almost always a point of discussion after a game, but rarely before a game. 

This weekend’s Championship action sees derbies up and down the country, games between teams in a relegation fight, a playoff battle as well as arguably ‘must win’ matches for some sides. Therefore, The Real EFL has gone through the appointed officials for the games, and take a look at their stats.

Here they are…

Birmingham City v Watford
MATTHEW DONOHUE
Paul Hodskinson and Andrew Fox
Fourth Official: Darren Drysdale

In a big game for both of these sides for separate reasons, PGMOL have selected Donohue to referee his first Watford game of the season. However, it is not his first Blues fixture as he managed their goalless draw against Queens Park Rangers earlier in the season, and their 2-2 draw with Swansea City at St Andrews. Throughout his 23 Championship matches, he has brandished 98 yellow cards, ranking him second of 48 for yellows handed out.

Ipswich Town v Sheffield Wednesday
LEIGH DOUGHTY
Nigel Lugg and Mark Stevens
Fourth Official: Anthony Backhouse

Leigh Doughty is a referee who is experienced at Championship level, but this season has spent more time in the lower leagues of the EFL. He has already officiated an Ipswich match this season, their 2-2 draw at Birmingham City. In his nine second tier matches, Doughty has handed out 36 yellow cards, as well as one red. However, his 19.11 average of fouls per game is lowest in the division for those who have taken charge of more than one game.

Middlesbrough v Blackburn Rovers
KEITH STROUD
Shaun Hudson and Mark Russell
Fourth Official: Andrew Kitchen

Experienced referee Stroud has been the man in the middle for over 250 Championship matches. It will be his first Middlesborough game of the season, however, he was in control of Blackburn’s 4-3 loss to Ipswich Town earlier this term. Stroud has been involved in 19 second-tier affairs so far this term, and has given out 90 yellow cards, ranking him third, and he has given a single red.

Plymouth Argyle v Preston North End
JOHN BUSBY
Richard Wild and Greg Read
Fourth Official: Carl Brook

In a game involving another side hoping to pull away from the drop zone, Busby has been selected as the official. Having appeared over 100 times in the EFL, across the three divisions, he is becoming a stalwart in the football league. With 19 matches in the Championship this season, Busby has brandished 80 yellow cards, ranking him fourth, and has also averaged 0.21 penalties per game.

Rotherham United v Huddersfield Town
JOSH SMITH
Matthew Jones and Sam Lewis
Fourth Official: Ross Joyce

For this potentially fiery Yorkshire derby, Smith has been selected to be the man in the middle. Having given three red cards, ranking joint-fourth in the division on that metric, his disciplinary record is one of the strictest in the division, especially added to his yellow card count, which currently sits at 73 in 19 matches.

Stoke City v Norwich City
GAVIN WARD
Lee Venamore and Adam Crysell
Fourth Official: Declan Bourne

With a long away day looming for Norwich fans, Gavin Ward will be the official taking control of their game against Stoke this weekend. With 18 games in the Championship this season, he has given 73 yellows. However, where Ward stands out is on his fouls per game metric, as he has only blown up for a foul an average of 19.83 times a game, ranking him 3rd lowest with officials who have taken part in ten or more games.

Sunderland v Queens Park Rangers
OLIVER LANGFORD
Hristo Karaivanov and Michael Webb
Fourth Official: Matt Corlett

A referee with almost 250 games in the second tier, this weekend Langford has been given the task of officiating at the Stadium Of Light in one of the potentially bigger games of the season for the away side. In 22 matches this term, he has brandished 5 red cards, joint-most of any referee. Langford has also given 72 yellow cards, ranking seventh of the 48 officials for number of cautions.

Swansea City v Cardiff City
DAVID WEBB
Rob Smith and Bhupinder Singh Gill
Fourth Official: Andy Davies

The Welsh derby is one of the jewels of the Championship calendar, and this weekend sees it take place once again, with both teams still potentially having something to fight for. David Webb, an experienced EFL referee has been given the honour of officiating the game. In his 25 games this season, he has handed out over 100 yellow cards, the most in the division, although that does come with the caveat that he has made the most appearances of any referee.

West Bromwich Albion v Bristol City
TOM NIELD
Matthew Smith and Blake Antrobus
Fourth Official: Adam Herczeg

Official Tom Nield is new to the Championship refereeing circuit, having only been the man in the middle for nine matches this season. In those nine games, he has brandished 34 yellow cards meaning there was an average of 3.78 a game, which sits him lower mid-table on that statistic. Furthermore, Nield has only given one penalty, and not a single red card, showing he is a referee that potentially is willing to let a lot go.