Meet The Ref - Latics v Bristol Rovers

The final game of the season is upon us, mid-table Latics face mid-table Bristol Rovers in what will hopefully be an open and free flowing game of football, the referee schedule to take charge of the fixture is Sunderland based official, Marc Edwards.

 

The 34 year old is in his 5th season as a National List official.

In his career in the EFL, Marc Edwards has taken charge of 142 games, issued 541 yellow and 10 red cards, pointing to the penalty spot on 32 occasions.

Having served his apprenticeship in the National League, his first two seasons in the ‘Big Time’ saw him issue just two red cards in 58 games, one in each season, only one of those was a straight red. He does enjoy awarding a penalty though.

Previous Games

Edwards has ref’d the Latics 5 times previously, twice this season, both away from home, Carlisle in August and our infamous trip to Vale Park in December, five Latics players picking up yellow cards in that game Sam Tickle, Scott Smith, Jordan Jones, Cal McManaman and Chris Sze.

Edwards’ last refereed Bristol Rovers in the 2021/22 season, a League Two fixture against Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park which ended 1:1.

 Marc Edwards Latics Games

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
16 Dec 2023	League One	Port Vale 3:2Latics	5Y
15 Aug 2023	League One	Carlisle Utd 1:1Latics	2Y
31 Aug 2021	EFL Trophy	Latics 0:0 Wolves U21	2 Y
09 Feb 2021	League One	Northampton 0:1 Latics	2 Y
12 Dec 2020	League One	Latics 4:3 Accrington	0

Marc Edwards Card Watch 2023/24

Games – 26

Yellows – 110

Reds – 1

Penalty Awards – 4

Wigan Athletic v Bristol Rovers
Referee – Marc Edwards
Assistants – Darren Williams and Graeme Fyvie
Fourth Official – Andy Miller

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

Meet The Ref - Portsmouth v Latics

Latics take the long trip down to newly crowned League One Champions, Portsmouth, on Saturday for our final away fixture of the season, the referee for the game will be Northants official, Dean Whitestone.

 

Whitestone has been around for quite a while now, started refereeing in the EFL back in 2005 and actually took charge of his first game at Championship level just two years later when he was in charge of the QPR v Colchester United match on the 22^nd December 2007.

 Previous Games

The serving Met Police Officer is a veteran of over 600 games, nearly 200 of those coming at Championship level.

Dean Whitestone has taken charge of seven Latics games previously, of which we have won 2, drawn 2 and lost 3. The last two both came last season and in both games we were on the wrong end of a 2:1 score-line.

Whitestone’s last Portsmouth game came last season away at the Valley, Charlton running out 3:0 winners with Pompey skipper Marlon Pack getting a red card on 66 minutes.

Dean Whitestone’s Latics Games

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
19 Dec 2022	Championship	Latics 1:2 Sheffield United	1Y
22 Oct 2022	Championship	QPR 2:1 Latics	2Y
26 Nov 2019	Championship	Millwall 2:2 Latics	1Y
13 Aug 2019	EFL Cup	Latics 0:1 Stoke	1Y
21 Apr 2018	League One	Fleetwood 0:4 Latics	0
10 Mar 2018	League One	Latics 3:3 Scunthorpe	2Y
09 Apr 2016	League One	Latics 1:0 Coventry	0

Dean Whitestone Card Watch 2023/24

Games – 24

Yellows – 87

Reds – 4

Penalty Awards – 2

Penalty Awards – 0

Portsmouth v Wigan Athletic
Referee – Dean Whitestone
Assistants – James Wilson and Graham Kane
Fourth Official – Jacob Miles

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

Meet The Ref - Lincoln City v Latics

Latics on the road again on Saturday, heading over to Sincil Bank to face promotion chasing Lincoln City, Durham based official, Martin Coy will be in charge of the game.

Coy joined the National List of referees in August 2017, he is a former PE and Maths teacher. 

Previous Games

Martin Coy has six Latics games under his belt so far, his last one came in March 2022, issuing 3 yellows, all to our lads, Darikwa, Shinnie and Power and he also issued straight reds to both James McClean and Fleetwood's Joe Garner. 

That wasn’t the only game where the 50 year old flashed a red at the DW Stadium, November 2020, Adam Long was given his marching orders in our FA Cup defeat to local rivals Chorley.

Coy has previously been in charge of several Lincoln City games, the last one coming earlier this season, back in August, a 3:0 home win over Blackpool, another match where he issued a red card, this time sending off the Tangerines midfielder Ollie Norburn.

Martin Coy Latics Games

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
01 Mar 2022	League One	Latics 2:0 Fleetwood	3Y & 1R
10 Aug 2021	EFL Cup	Hull City 1:1 Latics	0
08 Nov 2020	FA Cup 1st Rd	Latics 2:3 Chorley	2 Y & 1R
10 Oct 2020	League One	Crewe 3:0 Latics	0
14 Mar 2018	League One	Bradford City 0:1 Latics	4Y
04 Nov 2017	FA Cup 1st Rd	Latics 2:1 Crawley Town	1Y

Martin Coy Card Watch 2023/24

Games – 21

Yellows – 86

Reds – 3

Penalty Awards – 8

Lincoln City v Wigan Athletic
Referee – Martin Coy
Assistants – Hugh Gilroy and Alistair
Fourth Official – Lee Freeman

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

Meet The Ref - Charlton v Latics

Latics take the long trip down to South London on Tuesday for a re-arranged League One fixture against Charlton Athletic, the referee for the game will be Devon official, Lee Swabey.

Lee Swabey, an experienced ref who has been around in the EFL since the 2015/16 season, he has clocked up 233 games, issuing 750 yellow cards, 49 reds and awarded 66 penalties.

 Previous Games

Swabey has refereed the Latics once previously, Shrewsbury away in February, a solitary goal scored by Matt Smith settled that game in our favour, Sean Clare, Baba Adeeko and Jason Kerr all picking up yellow cards.

Lee Swabey has refereed Charlton twice this campaign, a bad tempered game back in August away at Peterborough, which the Addicks lost 1:0 and their 1:1 draw with Burton on the 23^rd December at the Valley.

Lee Swabey Latics Game

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
17 Feb 2024	League One	Shrewsbury 0:1 Latics	3Y

Lee Swabey Card Watch 2023/24

Games – 23

Yellows – 98

Reds – 4

Penalty Awards – 5

Charlton Athletic v Wigan Athletic
Referee – Lee Swabey
Assistants – Alex Bradley and Dan Bonneywell
Fourth Official – Dean Treleaven

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