Meet The Ref - Colchester United v Latics

 Latics travel down to Essex on Sunday to face League 2 side, Colchester United, in the 2^nd round of the FA Cup, the man in the middle for this battle will be Hastings referee, Carl Brook.

 

Carl Brook

No doubt that name will ring a bell with many Latics’ supporters, he was at the DW just four weeks ago when he took charge of our League 1 win over Burton Albion, sending off the Brewers’ midfield player, Jonny Smith after 15 minutes for lunging a ‘kung fu’ style kick into Curtis Tilts chest. 

Alright it wasn’t as dramatic as that, but it was still a definite red card.

 

The 46 year old is in his second season as a Football League ref, though he has been a referee for 30 seasons in the lower leagues of the football pyramid, he only made the graduation to the big time last campaign.

 

Carl spent four campaigns on the National League as a Level 2A official before being promoted to the National List back in September 2020.

 

Brook has refereed Colchester twice previously, both games in League 2, both last season and both against Forest Green Rovers, the U’s winning the home fixture 1:0 and losing away 3:0 despite Forest Green having a man sent off in the first half.

 

Of his 13 games this season five have been in League 1, six in League 2, one FA Cup and one EFL Trophy game.

 

Talking about finally making the grade in an interview with, Hastings In Focus, Carl Brook commented:

 

“You always have that drive to want to be a Football League referee and as much as I am in my mid-forties, I don’t feel it! I just kept on pushing and pushing and once I made it to a Level 3 referee you realise you’ve made that first big step.

 

“I enjoyed being a County League referee, but when you make that step from Level 4 to Level 3 you just realise, you have made a big step in the world of football.”

 

“I always referee with a smile on my face anyway, but I know I can walk out there and think this is what 30 years has been building up to so wow, what a privilege that is going to be.” 

                                                                                          

In his full time job, Carl is a Regional Director for a confectionery company.

 

Carl Brook’s Latics Games

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
30 Nov 2021	League 1	Latics 2:0 Burton	2 Yellow
23 Feb 2021	League 1	Bristol Rovers 1:2 Latics	3 Yellow

This referee has a ©Latics Love Factor of 100%

 

Carl Brook’s Card Watch 2021/22

Games – 13

Yellows – 52

Reds – 4

Penalty Awards - 2

 

Colchester United v Wigan Athletic
Referee – Carl Brook
Assistants – Geoff Russell and Mike Chard
Fourth Official – Scott Williams

Any Previous? Accrington Stanley v Latics

The two clubs have only met on four occasions since Stanley gained promotion to the Football League in 2006.

 

Three of those four came in League 1, we won at the Wham Stadium back in September whilst last campaign the home side won on both occasions, Latics 4:3 at the DW and Accy 3:1 at the Wham.

 

The fourth of those meetings was back in November 2017 in a Football League Trophy game which saw a strong Accrington side demolish what was virtually a Latics youth team 0:4 at the DW. Adam Long and Chris Merrie both started the game, Tyrell Thomas was the only player aged over 20 in the Latics squad.

 

The Latics also faced Accrington in the Lancashire Junior cup, a semi-final tie taking place at Springfield Park back in 1978, played out in front of 911 spectators, we won that game 4:3, stalwart Ian Gillibrand netting the last of his six goals that he scored during his time with the club where he made over 420 appearances.

Thanks to Jeff Rourke for his encyclopaedic knowledge of the Latics.

 

Accrington and Wigan Borough FC met regularly during the lifespan of Borough, firstly in the Lancashire Combination 1920/21 season, then in the newly formed Division 3 North, from 1921/22 through to the demise of Wigan Borough in 1931.

 

Accrington also faced Wigan Rovers during the 1970s in the Lancashire Combination

 

Stand Out Game - Accrington 1:4 Latics

Arguably our best performance of the season so far, we faced an inform Stanley, on their home turf and stormed out of the blocks, Jack Whatmough and Will Keane scoring first half goals set us on our way, two second half goals from Charlie Wyke put the cherry on the cake, a great day out in the East Lancashire sunshine.

 

Highlights – Accrington 1:4 Latics

 

 

Full Record v Accrington Stanley

Played – 4

Won – 2

Drawn – 0 

Lost – 2

 

The Meetings

Date	Competition	Result
18 Sep 2021	League 1	Accrington 1:4 Latics
20 Mar 2021	League 1	Accrington 3:1 Latics
12 Dec 2020	League 1	Latics 4:3 Accrington
07 Nov 2017	EFL Trophy	Latics 0:4 Accrington

Meet The 'Pzza' Ref - Accrington v Latics

Latics are traveling up to Accrington on Tuesday for the first knockout stage of this seasons EFL Trophy, the man in charge of the game is Wakefield referee, Bobby Madley.

 

Bobby Madley

Madley rose quickly through the ranks and became one of the youngest ref’s to make it to the top, when in April 2013, aged just 27, he took charge of the Premier League game between Southampton and West Brom, this came less than two years after he made his debut in the Football League in the Preston v Notts County League One game in August 2011.

 

The 2013/14 season saw Bobby make it to the Select Group of referees and officiate in five top flight games, though he ended the campaign in the bottom tier with a League 2 encounter between Burton and Chesterfield.

 

In a recent interview Bobby explained how he got into refereeing:

 

‘I had played for a Championship team’s School of Excellence and didn’t quite make the grade. I returned to playing for my local junior team, Ossett Town, but had become a little disillusioned with the game.

 

‘I was advised to take the referees course which I did, along with my brother Andy who came to keep me company. I was 16 when I took the course and at 23 I was promoted onto the Premier League as an Assistant Referee.

 

Previous Games

 

Madley has taken charge of six Latics’ games previously, our first encounter was the first game of our FA Cup winning run, Bournemouth at the DW in January 2013 and the last encounter was the first game of this season at Sunderland.

 

Following an incident in 2018, Madley was sacked by the PGMOL, however he was allowed back into the English game in February 2020, initially at grassroots level and subsequently onto the National List for the start of the 2020/21 season.

 

Bobby Madley’s Latics' Games

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
07 Aug 2021	League 1	Sunderland 2:1 Latics	4 Yellow
01 May 2021	League 1	Hull 3:1 Latics	2 Yellow
16 Jan 2021	League 1	Rochdale 3:3 Latics	1
25 Oct 2014	Championship	Derby 1:2 Latics	5 Yellow
19 Aug 2014	Championship	Cardiff 1:0 Latics	0
05 Jan 2013	FA Cup	Latics 1:1 Bournemouth	0

This referee has a ©Latics Love Factor of 30%

 

Bobby Madley’s Card Watch 2021/22

Games – 17

Yellows – 57

Reds – 2

Penalty Awards - 6

 

Accrington Stanley v Wigan Athletic
Referee – Bobby Madley
Assistants – Anthony Moore and Mark Cunliffe
Fourth Official – Paul Marsden

Any Previous? - Plymouth Argyle v Latics

The two clubs have met 22 times down the years, so far it’s all square with nine wins apiece and four draws, only one of those draws came down in Devon and that was 38 years ago.

 

Our first meeting came in the 1982/83 season on the 2^nd of October, a 3:0 win at Springfield Park in front of just over 5,000 fans, we completed the double over Plymouth that campaign, winning the return fixture down at Home Park 0:2, a crowd of 3,097 witnessing that game.

 

We went through a spell from 1985-98 when Plymouth appeared to be a bogey side for ourselves, nine fixtures, seven defeats and just the one win, but what a game that one win produced.

 

19 April 1986, both clubs chasing promotion, Plymouth were flying at the time, top of Division Three and Tommy Tynan banging the goals in for fun, they arrived at Springfield Park full of confidence on the back of an eleven game unbeaten run, with nine wins and two draws.

 

A bumper crowd of 9,485 enjoyed a classic game where the Latics dismantled their opponents, two goals from Paul Jewell and a David Lowe effort saw us record a 3:0 victory and leapfrog Plymouth into an automatic promotion spot with just four games of the season remaining.

 

Plymouth went on to win their final four games and gain promotion, unfortunately we drew two of ours and missed out by three points with Derby County, who had a fixture backlog, allowed to play three remaining games after the season had ended and over took us by one point.

 

We seem to either win or lose at Home Park, of the eleven games played there between the two sides we have five wins and five defeats and we have won the last four meetings on Plymouth’s home turf.

 

Last season a 1:1 draw at home in October was followed by a good win in the away fixture in March, first half goals from Viv Solomon-Otabor and Curtis Tilt sealed a 0:2 victory.

 

It’s fair to say we rode our luck at times in the away win last season, Plymouth hitting the woodwork on four occasions but two very well taken goals ensured the three points were coming back up to Wigan.

 

Highlights – Plymouth Argyle 0:2 Latics

 

Full Record v Plymouth Argyle

Played – 22

Won – 9

Drawn – 4 

Lost – 9

 

The Last Six Meetings

Date	Competition	Result
09 Mar 2021	League 1	Plymouth 0:2 Latics
24 Oct 2020	League 1	Latics 1:1 Plymouth
20 Jan 2018	League 1	Plymouth 1:3 Latics
26 Sep 2017	League 1	Latics 1:0 Plymouth
06 Nov 2004	Championship	Latics 0:2 Plymouth
16 Oct 2004	Championship	Plymouth 1:2 Latics