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#Post#: 102595--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fri 13th – Wed 18th MAR 2026
DIR By: TVOS
Date: March 9, 2026, 4:17 pm
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I like Charles Breakspear and find him a very good referee at
League 1, League 2 and National League level, but given the
length of the National List, I find it bizarre that he has been
appointed to his second Rochdale match in the space of 38 days!
#Post#: 102596--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fri 13th – Wed 18th MAR 2026
DIR By: Ryanellis
Date: March 9, 2026, 4:20 pm
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A very good appointment for Jamie O’Connor at the top of league
two, Swindon v MK Dons.
#Post#: 102597--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fri 13th – Wed 18th MAR 2026
DIR By: HChip
Date: March 9, 2026, 4:29 pm
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--- Quote from: olliebcafc link ---
>
> Linington at Harrogate, is that his first visit? Final season
for him possibly and ticking some new grounds off?
>
--- End Quote ---
I didn’t realise how old he was until I checked (47), I thought
he still had a year or two left in the tank but maybe you’re
right!
TTFL also said the same about Mark Scholes. I think we could see
a few on the way out this season.
#Post#: 102609--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fri 13th – Wed 18th MAR 2026
DIR By: ajb95
Date: March 10, 2026, 2:07 am
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--- Quote from: HChip link ---
>
> [quote author=olliebcafc link=topic=7798.msg102594#msg102594
date=1773090739]
> Linington at Harrogate, is that his first visit? Final season
for him possibly and ticking some new grounds off?
>
--- End Quote ---
I didn’t realise how old he was until I checked (47), I thought
he still had a year or two left in the tank but maybe you’re
right!
TTFL also said the same about Mark Scholes. I think we could see
a few on the way out this season.
[/quote]
Maybe start with those who are constantly injured with Linington
being one of them
#Post#: 102613--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fri 13th – Wed 18th MAR 2026
DIR By: ls1889
Date: March 10, 2026, 3:43 am
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Bobby Madley continuing his comeback from injury at Leyton
Orient
#Post#: 102614--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fri 13th – Wed 18th MAR 2026
DIR By: Acme Thunderer
Date: March 10, 2026, 3:44 am
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--- Quote from: Ryanellis link ---
>
> I believe that’s an EFL debut for Emily Heaslip - with 2
games!
>
> Crewe with Stephen Parkinson, who has already refereed this
fixture last season, and Steven Copeland, who gave Crewe a
penalty last season at home to Notts County which was ludicrous!
>
--- End Quote ---
I'm hoping to see a better performance from Stephen Parkinson
than when I last saw him at Crewe Alex.
#Post#: 102620--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fri 13th – Wed 18th MAR 2026
DIR By: Sean43211
Date: March 10, 2026, 4:43 am
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Paul Marsden with early return back to Gateshead on Saturday and
then Aaron Jackson on the Tuesday night happy with the latter
appointment
#Post#: 102634--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fri 13th – Wed 18th MAR 2026
DIR By: TheThingFromLewes
Date: March 10, 2026, 9:35 am
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--- Quote from: Sean43211 link ---
>
> Paul Marsden with early return back to Gateshead on Saturday
and then Aaron Jackson on the Tuesday night happy with the
latter appointment
>
--- End Quote ---
Happy with Marsden?
#Post#: 102638--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fri 13th – Wed 18th MAR 2026
DIR By: Charlieboy
Date: March 10, 2026, 11:14 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: Acme Thunderer link ---
>
> [quote author=Ryanellis link=topic=7798.msg102556#msg102556
date=1773073066]
> I believe that’s an EFL debut for Emily Heaslip - with 2
games!
>
> Crewe with Stephen Parkinson, who has already refereed this
fixture last season, and Steven Copeland, who gave Crewe a
penalty last season at home to Notts County which was ludicrous!
>
--- End Quote ---
I'm hoping to see a better performance from Stephen Parkinson
than when I last saw him at Crewe Alex.
[/quote]
Was decent at Plymouth Argyle on Saturday
#Post#: 102649--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fri 13th – Wed 18th MAR 2026
DIR By: Driver1123
Date: March 10, 2026, 3:08 pm
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--- Quote from: elbee94 link ---
>
> [quote author=Driver1123 link=topic=7798.msg102579#msg102579
date=1773079816]
> The two games this week for Bolton both have Assistant
Referees as fourth official again. This means four consecutive
league games where the "eyes from the side" and, should it be
needed, the backup ref, have been AR level. I know they're
still trained and qualified officials and can referee at lower
level, and we've had AR as 4th for the EFL Trophy group stage
games (But not the "more serious" FA Cup or Carabao Cup
fixtures). But until 28th February, every league fixture had a
National List /SG2 referee, two assistants at the corresponding
level and a National List referee as fourth.
>
> When we played the teams around us at the top of the table we
had either SG2 or, at least, very experienced National list
officials. Obviously because of the gravity of the fixture. So
why have we switched to using ARs as 4th suddenly for the last
few games now as we head towards the 'business' end of the
season? For matches involving teams like us being in the mix at
the top of the table - and equally for matches requiring key
decisions to affect the bottom of the table too - surely an
official at referee level should be in that support role for the
league games?
>
> Since the merger of the lower steps and the incredibly long
National List nowadays there is no way we can be short of
qualified and experienced officials, is there?
>
--- End Quote ---
I don’t see this as an issue myself - I haven’t checked back but
feels to me like a mix of AR/refs as 4O’s this season. And
whilst the referee is the senior figure, you’ve got double the
chance of needing a qualified assistant rather than a qualified
referee. If a game ends up with an assistant in charge and given
that nearly all of the most important games have a back up
referee assigned, I think you can put that down to bad luck. As
I say, if a referee acting as an assistant makes a bad call in
an important game, that’s also a foreseeable scenario.
[/quote]
I think it's a commonly forgotten point - even amongst officials
themselves - that a fourth official is not just a plinth to
support a numbers board, or a school type prefect telling
squabbling people in the dug out to stand in single file and
shut up. Nor are they only there "just in case" they need to
replace an AR or the ref.
They are, as the title suggests, a fourth match official
alongside the other three. On the pitch or not.
In a league where VAR does not exist, nor does goal line
technology (something else that would have been very useful in
the Bolton-Wycombe match on Saturday.....), the eyes, training
and experience of the fourth official are the only pitchside
resource that the referee - and also the clubs and fans - can
turn to and rely on to help and ensure the correct decisions are
made and the game is managed correctly. As I say, it rarely
happens that they submit any input, and I don't know why - such
as when a player gets fouled on the right side of the half way
line and, despite being less than 6 feet directly in front of
the 4O, he/she does not inform the referee who is still running
over from his/her viewpoint of it 30 yards away, or the
opposite: when a ref blows for a foul when none was committed,
the player won the ball fairly and the 4O clearly saw it. Or
even simpler than that, when the AR1 has clearly no idea whose
leg the ball came off for the throw-in and uses pure guesswork
over which arm to raise the flag in. A lot of the time it can
clearly be seen (from my seat in the stand behind the benches)
that the fourth saw it, and has even been seen to agree with the
relevant team manager when approached about it.
They are all mic'd up. They can all communicate. They need to
do so. And the right level of experience, confidence and
knowledge of what to look for is essential. The gameplay, pace
and flow of matches varies between divisions.....League One/Two
are a totally different game to the PL/Championship. This has
been seen both ways: When the newbie lower level officials
joined the National List and started appearing at matches higher
than they were used to, they struggled, and also when SG1/2 have
been allocated to League One/Two and have a different working
environment - without the previously mentioned tech backup and a
totally different standard of football, they also perform
differently.
Aside from any of that, of course, is the fact that there ARE
more experienced and senior officials available. A significant
number of them. If not injured or working their day job,
possibly sitting at home watching Sky Sports+, probably also
wondering why they're doing so, having been overlooked in favour
of those in a more junior lower level position. Or has the
season's budget been spent by this point and the lower ranks are
cheaper?....
As I say, apart from this run of 4 games (last two and next two)
we have had a referee as 4O for every other league fixture this
season. And it was the same for last season where a referee was
4O for every league game except the final day of the season, by
which point the final league positions of both teams had already
been confirmed so the result wasn't as important. So, since the
lists were merged and expanded from August 2024 up until 28th
February 2026, there was a referee on the sidelines for 79 of
the 80 league fixtures. That's not luck. So why have an AR for
fixtures 81-84 and possibly beyond?
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