Saturday at the DW Stadium will be a special day for the match referee, Mr Tom Nield, it will be his first League game since the 7th March when he swapped his referee kit for a nurses uniform.
As well as being a National List Ref (League’s 1&2) Nield is also a senior nurse/matron with the Acute & Emergency Service at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust and he was thrust into the frontline when the Coronavirus pandemic hit the UK back in the Spring.
"Our appointments come out at 4pm on a Monday. I think I made a call to Mike Jones [PGMOL National Group Director] on the Tuesday, or Wednesday and said, 'Mike, I don't think I'm going to be able to fulfil this fixture, things are changing at work. I'm needed there'.
"It's about trying to protect other people, and colleagues as well, and minimise my contact with them. I took the decision to remove myself off games, based on PGMOL advice. They were really great and supportive about it. That Friday, March 13, the decision was taken to suspend all professional football anyway. It was the right time. Around that week, I realised that this was going to get bad."
A big thank you to Tom and all his colleagues in the NHS for their work, from us all here at the Progress With Unity podcast, but any dodgy decisions Tom and you’ll still get some stick J
Tom Nield was appointed to the National List back in the 2017/18 season, his first game was Cambridge United 1:2 Carlisle United and he has gone on to ref 79 games in the following three seasons. This campaign he has officiated in two cup matches, Tranmere 1:1 Harrogate (EFL Cup) and Mansfield 0:3 Man City U23 (Football League Trophy).
Tom Nield Card Watch 2020/21
Games – 2
Yellows – 8
Reds – 0
Wigan Athletic v Gillingham
Referee – Tom Nield
Assistants - Gareth Mellor and
Stephen Wade
Fourth Official – Paul Stonier
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