The Football League have now announced the Match Day officials that will take charge of the game between Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City this Saturday.
Blackburn Rovers host Birmingham City on Saturday January 21 for the game at Ewood Park and the match carries a 3pm kick off.
Referee: Stephen Martin
Linesmen: David Avent and Jonathan Hunt
Fourth Official: Robert Jones
Match Day referee Martin has officiated 21 games in 2016/17, showing 50 yellow cards and two red cards.
His highest card count this year was five yellows and two reds in the game between Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United.
He took in 38 matches last season and in those games, across all competitions and football divisions, he handed out a total of 83 yellow cards and five red cards.
He was most card happy in the match between Peterborough United and Bury on September 29 with a total of five yellows being shown and one red. He also showed six yellows during the game between Plymouth and Portsmouth back in August.
Martin’s father and grandfather were both EFL officials and encouraged him to take up the whistle in 2002. His rapid rise saw him appointed to the EFL assistant referee list in 2008 and to the National League referee list in the same year. After four years he became an EFL referee, and has since taken charge of more than 150 games. Notable appointments include last season`s League One Play-Off Final, where he was named as fourth official.
Source – EFL.
Let`s hope it`s not another repeat and more of the players edge closer to automatic bans.
