Meet The Ref - Latics v Orient

Latics face Orient at the Brick on Saturday, in our first League One home fixture of this season, scheduled to take charge of the game is Gloucester based referee, Ross Martin.

Ross Martin, made the step up from the National League to the National List last season.

Previous Games

In his debut season, Martin only had four games at League One level, of these four, two involved the Latics.

The first of which featured Port Vale at the Brick back in October, Martin red carded Dara Costelloe on the stroke of half-time for an attempted overhead kick which was deemed as a high foot, we went on to win the game with a 2nd half Asamoah goal.

The second game was our away 1:1 draw against Barnsley in March, Joe Taylor with a great goal finishing off an assist by Sam Tickle, the red card was out again though, Callum Wright picking up a 2nd yellow and heading for an early bath.

Ross Martin’s Previous Latics Game

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
17 Mar 2026	League One	Barnsley 1:1 Latics	3Y &1R
18 Oct 2025	League One	Latics 1:0 Port Vale	1Y & 1R

Ross Martin Card Watch 2026/27

Games – 2

Yellows – 8

Reds – 0

Penalty Awards – 1

Wigan Athletic v Leyton Orient
Referee – Ross Martin
Assistants – Ryan Aldred and Zharir Mustafa
Fourth Official – Jamie O’Connor

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

Meet The Ref - Cambridge United v Latics

The first league game of the season on Saturday sees the Latics travel down to the Abbey Stadium to face newly promoted Cambridge United. The referee for the game is scheduled to be American official, Alex Chilowicz. 

The 39-year-old New Jersey native, relocated to the UK from the US in 2023, after officiating 237 games in the MLS.  Following his move to England, Chilowicz became an EFL official and has quickly established himself across the Football League, he is currently on 77 games across the EFL and various cup comps. He has also gone on to operate as a VAR at Premier League level.

The former musician, he is an accomplished saxophonist, blew his first tune of this season when taking charge of Orient’s 2:0 Carabao Cup win over Oxford United on Saturday, a player from each side making their way into the book.

Previous Games

Alex Chilowicz’s has refereed the Latics four times previously, ironically enough, our first League One game of last season, that came at the Brick when Northampton Town were put to the sword, a Fraser Murray double and a Jenson Weir goal saw the Latics start the season off in great form and register our highest position in the table reaching the dizzy heights of 3^rd. Hopefully more of the same on Saturday.

With both clubs looking to establish themselves early in the new League One campaign, Saturday's meeting promises to be a competitive encounter.

For the officials, the challenge will be to keep control of what should be an energetic game while allowing both sides to play their football.

Alex Chilowicz Latics Games

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
06 April 2026	League One	Northampton 1:3 Latics	3Y
02 Aug 2025	League One	Latics 3:1 Northampton	0
10 Jan 2025	FA Cup	Mansfield Town 0:2 Latics	0
10 Feb 2024	League One	Latics 1:2 Exeter City	2Y

Alex Chilowicz Card Watch 2026/27

Games – 1

Yellows – 2

Reds – 0

Penalty Awards – 0

Cambridge United v Wigan Athletic
Referee – Alex Chilowicz
Assistants – Lee Venamore and David Hutton
Fourth Official – Declan Bourne

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

Meet The Ref - Barnsley v Latics

The 2026/27 season gets underway on Saturday as Wigan Athletic travel to Oakwell to face Barnsley in the Carabao Cup. Taking charge of the opening fixture of the new campaign will be Derby based referee Richard Eley, who is entering his third season on the EFL National List following his promotion ahead of the 2024/25 season.

 

Eley is a familiar face to Latics supporters, having officiated three Wigan Athletic matches to date. His first assignment involving the club came in February 2025 when the Latics earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw away at Crawley Town. He then oversaw the disappointing EFL Trophy defeat to Salford City at the DW Stadium in September 2025 before taking charge of the memorable 1-2 victory at AFC Wimbledon later that year.

Across those three games, we have recorded one win, one draw and one defeat under Eley's supervision, receiving a total of five yellow cards.

Richard Eley Previous Latics Games

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
22 Nov 2025	League One	AFC Wimbledon 1:2 Latics	1Y
02 Sep 2025	EFL Trophy	Latics 0:2 Salford City	2Y
18 Feb 2025	League One	Crawley Town 1:1 Latics	2Y

The Numbers

During the 2025/26 campaign, Eley officiated 31 matches, issuing 103 yellow cards, three red cards and awarding two penalties. Those statistics suggest a referee who is prepared to keep a firm grip on proceedings while not being overly reliant on the red card.

Richard Eley Card Watch 2025/26

Games – 31

Yellows – 103

Reds – 3

Penalty Awards – 2

Barnsley v Wigan Athletic
Referee – Richard Eley
Assistants – Paul Newhouse and Wayne Grunnill
Fourth Official – William Murray

With a new season beginning and a possibly lucrative place in the next round of the Carabao Cup at stake, Wigan Athletic will be hoping the opening headlines come from the players rather than the officials as competitive action returns for the Latics at Oakwell.

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

Join Our World Cup Prediction League

 

World Cup 2026 Prediction League

With just over a week to go to the start of the 2026 World Cup we thought it was time to launch our prediction league.

Can you beat our experts and come out on top taking pride of place as the ‘number one’ PWU Podcast World Cup predictor?

Pride is the prize in this tournament, pride in not only predicting the most accurate results but also being there at the end of what is the largest World Cup finals that have ever taken place.

With 48 countries making it through there will be a staggering 104 games to be played in just over a month, so let the fun begin.

To join our Prediction League simply follow this link to futurefootie.com register on the site and then click the ‘Leagues’ button on the top banner, you will be prompted to enter a code to join a private league, the code needed is 99260531175415 hit submit and you will be in the Laticafe League.

It is free to register and to play, there will be no prize, just pride for the winner and an interview on the PWU Podcast.

Good luck