Meet The Ref - Oxford United v Latics

Latics travel down the M40 on Tuesday to face Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium in a League One fixture, the referee for the game is scheduled to be Suffolk whistle blower, Emily Heaslip.

 

33 year old Heaslip, who hails from Bury St Edmunds, has been officiating primarily in the Women’s Super League but does have some EFL experience, including her debut game at League One level which she took charge of on Saturday, Sheffield Wednesday v AFC Wimbledon at Hillsborough.

Emily Heaslip has also refereed Women’s Champions League matches and European Qualifier internationals.

So far in her career in the mens game, Heaslip has taken charge of seven League Two matches and one League One.

Emily Heaslip Card Watch 2026/27

Games – 8

Yellows – 25

Reds – 1

Penalty – 3

 

Oxford United v Wigan Athletic

Referee – Emily Heaslip

Assistants – Nick Blogg & Andy Bennett

4^th Official – Ben Speedie

Grab a listen to the latest podcast featuring a preview of the Oxford game

Previous Meetings - Latics v Reading

Wigan Athletic and Reading have a long history of fixtures in the Football League, the Royals were one of the first league matches for the newly elected Latics back in August 1978, since that day it’s felt like we have followed each other around with promotions and relegations, especially over the past 30 years.

 

We have faced Reading a total of 56 times down the years, winning 20 of those, with the disappointment of defeat being felt on 24 occasions and drawing 12 times. 

We have never met in any cup competition.

Our first meeting was, as stated, in our inaugural season back on the 26^th of August 1978, we suffered a two-nil loss away at Elm Park as we struggled to come to terms with being a full time professional club, but, by the time of the return fixture at Springfield Park we had certainly found our feet, smashing top of the table Reading three-nil, Peter Houghton with two and Noel Ward on target for the Latics that afternoon.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment from a Latics point of view came in the 2000/01 season, Latics and Reading were pitched together in the 3^rd tier playoffs, the first leg, at the JJB, had finished goalless, so it was off to the Madejski Stadium on a Wednesday evening for a winner takes all showdown.

The Latics took the lead thanks to a 26^th minute goal from Kevin Nicholls and hung on until the death, Martin Butler with an 86^th minute leveller, with the game looking likely to go into extra-time Nicky Forster grabbed a 90^th minute winner that sent Reading through to the final.

We shook that disappointment off just four years later when the final game of the 2004/05 season saw Latics beat Reading 3:1 to gain promotion to the Premier League, the eight year stay and 2013 FA Cup triumph that followed certainly made up for that playoff defeat.

Currently we are on a very poor run of form against the Royals, four straight defeats and ten in our last fourteen meetings, just two wins in there for the Latics. 

Last season Reading did the double over us for the second campaign in a row, a 1:2 defeat at the Brick in February and our typical lacklustre showing at the romantically named, Select Car Leasing Stadium, in March, ending with a 3:0 defeat.

Hopefully we can turn the tide this weekend…

Grab a listen to the latest PWU Podcast with a preview of the Reading game and an opposition view provided by Alex from the Elm Park Royals podcast

Meet The ref - Latics v Reading

Latics are back in action at the Brick Community on Saturday when Reading will be the visitors for a League One fixture, the referee for the game will be Preston based official, Ed Duckworth.

 

A graduate of Myerscough College, Ed has also held positions with the Cheshire FA as their Referee Development Officer and National Referee Manager for the Football Association. Duckworth was promoted to the National List of Referees in August 2023.

 Previous Games

This will be Ed Duckworth’s fourth Wigan Athletic game having taken charge of our 3:0 home win over Fleetwood Town back in November 2023. In a busy afternoon, Duckworth booked Latics striker, Josh Stones along with four Fleetwood players, plus a red card was brandished to Cod Army defender Josh Earl right on half-time.

Duckworth took charge of our 3^rd round Carabao cup tie early last campaign, a 0:2 defeat at home to Wycombe, Dara Costelloe and Callum Wright picking up yellow cards in a lack lustre performance from the lads.

Ed Duckworth’s last Latics game came at the Brick in March against Exeter, Gary Caldwell’s former club were put to the sword, Joe Taylor and Fraser Murray on the score sheet, Raphael Rodrigues picking up a yellow.

The Preston whistleblowers’ last Reading game also came in March last season, their 1:2 away win at Burton

Ed Duckworth’s Latics Games

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
21 Mar 2026	League One	Latics 2:0 Exeter City	1Y
23 Sep 2025	EFL Cup	Latics 0:2 Wycombe	2Y
28 Nov 2023	League One	Latics 3:0 Fleetwood Town	1Y

 

 

 

 

Ed Duckworth Card Watch 2026/27

Games – 10

Yellows – 39

Reds – 1

Penalty Awards – 1

Wigan Athletic v Reading
Referee – Ed Duckworth
Assistants – Dan Woodward and Drew Dutton
Fourth Official – Ryan Aldred

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

Meet The Ref - Stevenage v Latics

The Latics travel down to Hertfordshire to face Stevenage at the SPORTA Arena on Saturday in a League One fixture, the referee for the game is scheduled to be Suffolk whistle blower, Abigail Byrne.

 

34 year old Byrne, who hails from Bury St Edmunds, has been part of the PGMOL since 2016, but she’s officiated primarily in the Women’s Super League and had the honour of refereeing the 2019 Women’s FA Cup Final between Manchester City and West Ham United at Wembley and the 2024 Women‘s League Cup Final at Vicarage Road, Watford.

Abigail Byrne is also a UEFA Category 1 referee and a listed FIFA official.

So far in her career, Byrne has taken charge of 8 League One and 18 League Two games, with MK Dons v Huddersfield and the fourth tier Grimsby/Exeter and Barnet/Cheltenham games coming this season.

With a reputation for being consistent in her decision making, technically excellent and highly regarded by her peers, hopefully Abigail Byrne will prove to be an improvement on the shambolic refereeing displays of the past three seasons down at Stevenage from Messrs Young, Miles and Russell respectively.

Abigail Byrne Card Watch 2026/27

Games – 5

Yellows – 16

Reds – 0

Penalty – 1

Stevenage FC v Wigan Athletic

Referee – Abigail Byrne

Assistants – Mark Dwyer & Steve Finch

4^th Official – Andy Aylott

Grab a listen to the latest podcast featuring a preview of the Stevenage game