Meet The Ref - Latics v Portsmouth

Easter Monday sees the Latics back in League One action when playoff chasing Portsmouth visit the DW Stadium. West Yorkshire official, Tom Nield will be in charge of the game.

 

Tom Nield

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 in the Spring of 2020.

 

Tom says - "On March 7, I refereed Walsall against Exeter and it was just emerging; things were starting to hot up a bit within the NHS at that time," he explains. "I received my appointment for my next game, which was Leyton Orient against Plymouth on March 17.

 

"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.

 

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 both the Latics and Portsmouth once each, our 2:3 home defeat to Gillingham back in September and Pompey’s 2:4 away win at Burton in October.

 

Of Tom Nield’s 27 games so far, 10 have been in League One, 11 in League Two, 2 each in the FA Cup, the EFL Trophy and the EFL Cup.

 

Tom Nield Card Watch 2020/21

Games – 27

Yellows – 98

Reds – 2

Penalty Awards – 2

(Both the two reds and the two penalties came in League Two games)

 

Wigan Athletic v Portsmouth
Referee - Tom Nield
Assistants – Alistair Nelson and Bradley Hall
Fourth Official - Tom Harty