Meet The Ref - Bolton Wanderers v Latics

Latics travel the six miles to the Toughsheet Stadium on Saturday to face local rivals Bolton Wanderers, scheduled to take charge of the game is Merseyside based referee, Ben Speedie.

 

27 year old, Speedie, a former schoolteacher, made the step up from the National League to the EFL refereeing list ahead of the 2020/21 season.

Previous Games

During his first campaign in the EFL, Ben Speedie took charge of his only previous Latics game, a 1:1 draw away at Tranmere in the EFL Trophy, Harry McHugh scoring a 25 yard screamer and picking up the only yellow card of the tie.

Speedie by name and ‘speedy’ by nature, the happy whistle blower made a rapid transit to the Select Group 2 of full-time refs and can now be found plying his trade primarily in the Championship.

Ben Speedie’s Latics Game

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
10 Nov 2020	EFL Trophy	Tranmere 1:1  Latics	1Y

 

 

Ben Speedie Card Watch 2025/26

Games – 9

Yellows – 25

Reds – 2

Penalty Awards – 2

Bolton Wanderers v Wigan Athletic
Referee – Ben Speedie
Assistants – Mark Cunliffe and Bradley Hall
Fourth Official – Jamie O’Connor

Grab a listen to the latest PWU Latics podcast featuring a preview of the Bolton game

Meet The Ref - Latics v Doncaster Rovers

The Latics are at the Brick on Saturday, Doncaster Rovers are in town for a League One encounter, the referee for the game is Surrey based official, Craig Hicks. 

Hicks progressed from his lowly beginnings in the Epsom & Ewel Youth League, through to taking charge of the Surrey Senior Cup Final in 2016 and eventually into the Football League for the 2017/18 season, his first game being Port Vale 2:3 Wycombe Wanderers on the 12 August 2017.

 Previous Games

This will be the fifth Wigan Athletic game that Craig Hicks has been in charge of, the first two of those coming in our League One title winning campaign in 2021/22.

Away at Charlton back in August ‘21, Tendayi Darikwa and James McClean on the score sheet in a 0:2 win for the Latics, Jordan Jones picking up a yellow card in that game.

Portsmouth at the tail end of that particular run-in in late April 22 saw his second Latics game, despite going two goals up and having one hand on the Champions trophy we ended up conceding three times in the second half and had to wait a week to clinch pole position.

Both Ben Amos and Tendayi Darikwa picking up yellows down at Fratton Park.

Hicks also took charge of our FA Cup 1^st round win away at St. James’ Park against Exeter in 2023, Steven Sessegnon with an absolute screamer that day in a 0:2 victory. His fourth Latics game was our goalless draw away at Lincoln last season, James Carragher picking up a yellow in that game.

Craig Hicks’ last Doncaster game was their 1:2 away win at Swindon in October last season, he awarded Donny a 94^th minute penalty which enabled them to claim all three points.

Craig Hicks’s Latics Games

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
21 Sep 2024	League One	Lincoln City 0:0Latics	1Y
15 Feb 2023	FA Cup	Exeter City 0:2Latics	1Y
26 Apr 2022	League One	Portsmouth 3:2 Latics	2Y
21Aug 2021	League One	Charlton 0:2 Latics	2Y

 Craig Hicks Card Watch 2025/26

Games – 5

Yellows – 12

Reds – 0

Penalty Awards – 2

Wigan Athletic v Doncaster Rovers
Referee – Craig Hicks
Assistants – Drew Dutton and Joe Simpson
Fourth Official – Richard Aspinall

Grab a listen to the latest PWU Latics podcast featuring a preview of the Doncaster Rovers game.

Meet The Ref - Lincoln City v Latics

Latics travel over to Sincil Bank on Saturday to face Lincoln City in our latest League One fixture, Swindon born, Cambridgeshire based official, Alan Young is scheduled to be the referee.

Alan Young was appointed to the National List at the beginning of the 2018/19 season, the majority of his games since have come in League Two and the National League.

If you think this referee sounds familiar there is good reason for that.

In previewing him for the last Latics game that he officiated in I wrote “You could say Young is a little card happy”, that statement proved to be prophetic, the game? Stevenage away in October 2023.

Young showed 15 yellow cards, 12 of which were directed at Latics players plus manager Shaun Maloney, he also proceeded to send off Callum Lang and Stevenage defender Alex McDonald and award a highly dubious penalty to the home side.

Here’s hoping for a much better performance from Young on Saturday.

Previous Games

As well as the Stevenage game, Young has been in charge of a further two Latics games, those two were both away fixtures at Doncaster, our 1:4 win April 2021, Jamie Jones and Joe Dodoo both finding their way into the book with a yellow apiece and our 1:2 win at the Keepmoat in January 2022, Ben Amos picking up a yellow that day.

Away from refereeing Alan Young is still involved in football, his full time job is CEO/Director of Bedfordshire FA, he’s been in the position for the past ten years.

Alan Young Latics Games

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
07 Oct 2023	League One	Stevenage 1:0 Latics	12Y & 1R
15 Jan 2022	League One	Doncaster 1:2 Latics	1Y
10 Apr 2021	League One	Doncaster 1:4 Latics	2 Y

Alan Young Card Watch 2023/24

Games – 4

Yellows – 18

Reds – 0

Penalty Awards – 0

Lincoln City v Wigan Athletic
Referee – Alan Young
Assistants – Sam Wesson and Richard Wigglesworth
Fourth Official – Edward Duckworth

Grab a listen to the latest PWU Latics podcast featuring a preview of the Lincoln game.

Meet The Vertu Trophy Ref - Latics v Salford

Latics kick off their Vertu Trophy campaign on Tuesday evening with a home tie against League Two club, Salford City, Derby based official, Richard Eley is scheduled to be in charge.

The 28 year old is in his 2^nd season as an EFL referee but he is still dipping his toe back into the National League, his four games so far this season have been split evenly between League Two and The National League.

Previous Games

Richard Eley has refereed the Latics once previously, last season’s League One away day at Crawley, a 1:1 draw on a cold Tuesday in February, Dale Taylor with the goal, Owen Dale and Jensen Weir picking up yellows

Eley was also the 4^th official for our opening game of last season, our 0:1 home defeat to Charlton in August 2024.

This will be the Derby based official’s first game involving Salford City.

Richard Eley Previous Latics Game

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
18 Feb 2025	League One	Crawley Town 1:1 Latics	2Y

Richard Eley Card Watch 2025/26

Games – 4

Yellows –17

Reds – 0

Penalty Awards – 0

Wigan Athletic v Salford City
Referee – Richard Eley
Assistants – Adam Burgess and Tom Harty
Fourth Official – Matt Malton

Grab a listen to the latest PWU Latics podcast featuring a preview of the Salford game.