Meet The Ref - Latics v Pompey

Latics are back at the DW Stadium on Saturday, league leaders Portsmouth will be in town for a tough looking fixture, the referee for the game is Luton based official, Will Finnie.

 

Will Finnie

Will Finnie was promoted to the National List of ref’s at the start of the 2019/20 season, in the four and a bit seasons that followed his appointment, Finnie has taken charge of 138 games, issued 406 yellow cards, issued 15 reds and awarded 33 penalties.

Although Finnie hasn’t refereed a game above League One level, he has been the 4^th official at 23 Championship games.

Of Will Finnie’s 9 games so far this season, 4 have come in League One, 3 in League Two and 2 in the EFL Cup.

Previous Games

This will be Will Finnie’s 2nd Latics game, but his first visit to the DW Stadium, in Finnie’s previous encounter with Wigan Athletic, away at Ipswich, two Will Keane goals gave us a share of the spoils, there were 19 free kicks in total, Latics awarded 12 of those, with both Callum Lang and Kell Watts picking up yellow cards for committing fouls.

Finnie last refereed Portsmouth last campaign in their League One away at Forest Green back in October.

Last Game

The last game that Will Finnie was in charge of was the League One fixture between Fleetwood and Oxford United at Highbury on 16^th September, Oxford won 0:3 and Finnie awarded 19 free kicks and issued two yellows, both to Fleetwood players.

 Will Finnie’s One Latics Games

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
05 Apr 2022	League One	Ipswich Town 2:2 Latics	2Y

 

Will Finnie Card Watch 2023/24

Games – 9

Yellows – 27

Reds – 2

Penalty Awards – 1

Wigan Athletic v Portsmouth
Referee – Will Finnie
Assistants – Paul Hodskinson and Mark Pottage
Fourth Official – Andy Miller

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

 

Meet The Ref - Bristol Rovers v Latics

Latics travel down to Bristol Rovers on Saturday for a League One fixture, the referee for the game will be County Durham official, Geoff Eltringham.

 

Geoff Eltringham

The 43 year old has been on the National List of referees since the 2009/10 season, his first game coming on the 8^th August 2009, a 2-2 draw in League 2 between Morecambe and Hereford.

So far in his career, Geoff Eltringham has taken charge of 466 games, issued 1364 yellow and 87 red cards, pointing to the penalty spot on 130 occasions.

Previous Games

This will be Eltringham’s 17th Latics game as a referee, his first was our 0:4 away win at Barnsley in August 2013, our first Championship game following relegation from the Premier League.

He refereed us twice last season, the first game of 2023, the 1:4 home defeat to Hull City and the goalless draw with Norwich, also at the DW Stadium in February.

Geoff Eltringham last refereed Bristol Rovers 10 seasons ago, twice in that particular League 2 campaign, an away defeat at Accrington Stanley, 2:1 in October 2013 and a 3:1 away defeat at Chesterfield on the 1^st February 2014.

There’s always a Latics link, in the Accrington game Josh Windass and Kal Naismith played for Stanley and James Beatie was manager at the time, whilst in the Chesterfield game Tendayi Darikwa, Sam Morsy, Dan Gardner and Gary Roberts played, with Paul Cook managing the Spireites.

Part of the Select Group 2, Eltringham officiates across the EFL, of his 4 games so far this campaign, 2 have come in the Championship, 1 each in League 1 and the EFL Cup.

Geoff Eltringham’s Last Six Latics Games

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
18 Feb 2022	Championship	Latics 0:0 Norwich	2Y
02 Jan 2023	Championship	Latics 1:4 Hull City	1 Y
05 Feb 2022	FA Cup	Stoke 1:0 Latics	2Y & 1R
08 Jul 2020	Championship	Latics 1:0 QPR	1 Y
26 Feb 2020	Championship	Reading 0:3 Latics	1 Y
23 Nov 2019	Championship	Stoke 2:1 Latics	2 Y

 

Geoff Eltringham Card Watch 2023/24

Games – 4

Yellows – 18

Reds – 1

Penalty Awards – 0

Bristol Rovers v Wigan Athletic
Referee – Geoff Eltringham
Assistants – Greg Read and Mark Pottage
Fourth Official – Alan Young

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

 

Played for Both Bristol Rovers and Wigan Athletic

This week, Adam Pendlebury takes a look at the player connections between the Latics and Saturday's opponents Bristol Rovers

 

2002-2005 / 1999-2002	Nathan Ellington
2004-2006 / 1998-2000	Jason Roberts
1994-1995 / 2002-2004	Paul Tait
2011-2012 / 2015 (loan)	Adam Dawson
Youth-2016 / 2015-2016 (loan)	Lee Nicholls
1981-1982 / 1982 (loan)	Les Bradd
1981-1983 / 1967-1969	Larry Lloyd
1996-1998 / 1996 (loan)	Steve Morgan
2000-2001 / 1999	Gino Padula
2009-2010 (loan) / Youth-2005	Scott Sinclair

 

The players above have all played for the Tics and the Pirates. Lloyd and Bradd provide us with 80s magic, but most of the list are from the post-Whelan era. Steve Morgan did not really excel at Wigan but did score a wonderful goal v Hull City at Springfield Park in 1996.

Another who did not reach his full potential at the Tics is Goalkeeper Lee Nicholls. His career started well with some solid performances under Owen Coyle in Europe and in the Championship, but unfortunately he is probably remembered most for a terrible blooper in the crucial home tie v Zulte-Waregem.

Nicholls was released in 2016 after a loan spell with the Pirates. Later he joined Huddersfield where his performances significantly improved, culminating in him being named in the Championship team of the year 21/22.

That brings me to the most formidable strike partnership in Wigan Athletic’s history, Jason Roberts and Nathan Ellington.

Both had phenomenal goalscoring records at Bristol Rovers, but it was at the Latics where they both really made their names.

Ellington scored 65 goals whilst Roberts bagged 43, averaging almost a goal every other game.

It was the beautiful partnership and the telepathy of the two players that drove the Latics to the Premier League in 2005. In the final game of the season and the one that that carried us to promotion against Reading it was fitting that both players played their part and were on the scoresheet.

I find it difficult to separate the two in terms of what they gave to the Latics but scoring a 1^st minute goal on his debut away at local rivals Preston North End, plus his scoring of our first Premier League goal against Sunderland, gives Mr Jason Roberts the edge.

Adam Pendlebury

 

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