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 

Win A Wigan Warriors Signed & Framed Shirt

Win A Signed & Framed Warriors Shirt

 

Wigan Warriors have a big date in North London this weekend, they’ll be down at Wembley Stadium to face Hull KR on Saturday in the Challenge Cup Final.

A fantastic day out and a memorable occasion. To mark it I have been presented with a signed & framed Warriors away shirt to raffle for charity, that charity is Derian House Children’s Hospice. 

The shirt has been signed by the current - Wembley bound - first team squad.

Derian House is now over 30 years old and provides free care via:

Overnight stays

Day care

Holidays in on site lodges

Wraparound care for the whole family

Preparation for end of life

Care after end of life

It costs £6m per year to run with under 30% of funding needed coming from government.

Our family had personal experience of Care After End of Life when our Tilly sadly passed away on 20 March this year. The comfort that this care brought at the darkest of times was immeasurable, it helped to ease the pain of the hardest period of our lives and brought some peace to a devastated family.

As a family we have committed to giving something back in terms of fundraising to ensure that the support is always there for other families that may be affected and also by raising awareness of the work carried out by Derian House and what they need for that to continue.

The raffle of the Wigan Warriors signed & framed shirt is part of a series of events we have planned.

To take part in the raffle please follow the link here to go to the Just Giving page. It is £5 per entry and you MUST leave your name in the comments section so that you can be entered into the draw.

The draw will take place on Friday 26 June 2026, in Whelan’s Sports Bar at the Brick Community Stadium at a Race Night Derian House event being held that evening.

Thank You for reading

Barry