Meet The Ref - Latics v Cheltenham Town

Back at home on Friday for the first of two home games in four days when Cheltenham Town are the visitors to the DW Stadium. The referee for the game will be Hertfordshire official, David Rock.

Rock is now in his fifth season in the EFL, he has clocked up 153 games, issued 530 yellow cards, 24 reds and awarded 26 spot kicks.

 Previous Games

David Rock has refereed the Latics four times previously, two away days and twice at the DW Stadium, three of those games came in 2021, but spread across two separate seasons, the fourth was our 2:0 home win over Oxford in October, booking Baba Adeeko, Liam Shaw and Callum Lang.

Rock was last in charge of a Cheltenham game earlier this season, their 0:3 League One home defeat at the hands of Bolton on the 12^th August.

Away from football, Rock works as a PE Training and Development officer for a sports education company.

David Rock Latics Games

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
24 Oct 2023	League One	Latics 2:0 Oxford	3Y
08 Dec 2021	League One	Latics 2:1 Shrewsbury	1 Y
20 Apr 2021	League One	Shrewsbury 1:2 Latics	2 Y
02 Feb 2021	League One	Swindon 1:0 Latics	2 Y

David Rock Card Watch 2023/24

Games – 28

Yellows – 106

Reds – 7

Penalty Awards – 5

Wigan Athletic v Cheltenham Town
Referee – David Rock
Assistants – Emily Carney and Darren Williams
Fourth Official – Matt Sowerby

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

Meet The Ref - Shrewsbury Town v Latics

Latics are off down the A49 on Saturday, a trip to Salop to face Shrewsbury Town, the referee for the game will be Devon official, Lee Swabey.

 

Plymouth lad, Swabey will be taking charge of his first Latics game on Saturday, though he is an experienced ref and been around in the EFL since the 2015/16 season, clocking up almost 230 games, this will be the only time our paths have crossed.

Previous Games

As previously mentioned, Swabey doesn’t have any Latics games to reflect upon, but he has been in charge of Shrewsbury a few times down the years, nine times to be precise, of which the Shrews have won 5, drawn 2 and suffered just 2 defeats and he's awarded them 2 penalties.

Lee Swabey Card Watch 2023/24

Games – 18

Yellows –77

Reds – 4

Penalty Awards – 4

Shrewsbury Town v Wigan Athletic
Referee – Lee Swabey
Assistants – Simon Shaw and Steven Plane
Fourth Official – Ravel Cheosiaua

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

 

Meet The Ref - Oxford United v Latics

The Latics are back at it on Tuesday, a trip down the M40 to face Oxford United, the referee for the game will be Carnforth official, Jeremy Simpson.

 

The 48 year old is a former Premier League and FIFA International assistant referee, switching to blowing the whistle rather than running the line, Simpson was at National League level in 2012 and by the 2015/16 season in the Championship and part of the Select Group 2 of professional referees.

Previous Games

Jeremy Simpson’s first Latics game came in the Championship, back in August 2016, a 1:1 draw at the DW Stadium against Birmingham City, Craig Davies scoring a 90^th minute equaliser, subsequently he’s been in charge of 16 Latics games, 8 of those games have been away from the DW Stadium, of which we’ve won one and lost four. In fact we have only won four games in which Jezza has been in charge, not the best of records.

Simpson last refereed Oxford earlier this season, 12^th August, their 1:0 home win over Carlisle United in a League One fixture, the four yellow cards in the game were all handed out to Carlisle players.

Jeremy Simpson’s Last Six Latics Games

Date	Competition	Result	Latics Cards
14 Jan 2023	Championship	Cardiff 1:1 Latics	2Y
13 Sep 2023	Championship	Huddersfield 1:2 Latics	2Y
18 Feb 2022	League One	Rotherham 1:1 Latics	4Y
30 Jun 2020	Championship	Latics 3:0 Stoke	1Y
22 Feb 2020	Championship	Latics 1:0 Millwall	1Y
20 Nov 2019	Championship	Latics 1:3 Reading	2Y

Jeremy Simpson Card Watch 2023/24

Games – 13

Yellows – 53

Reds – 3

Penalty Awards – 1

Oxford United v Wigan Athletic
Referee – Jeremy Simpson
Assistants – Blake Antrobus and Alex James
Fourth Official – Ryan Atkin

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

Meet The Ref - Latics v Exeter City

The Latics are looking to beat Exeter for the third time this campaign when the Devon club visit the DW Stadium on Saturday, the referee for the game will be former MLS official, Alex Chilowicz.

 

The 36 year old, recently relocated to the UK from the US, spent six seasons officiating in the MLS and took charge of 237 games in the American top-flight, as well as stints as video ref (VAR) and 4^th official duties, including the MLS cup final in 2020.  

Chilowicz, became a National List official in December 2023 and has subsequently taken charge of eight games and acted as fourth official on four occasions, his first taste of the English whistle coming as recently as the 23^rd December, the League Two encounter between Sutton United and Mansfield Town, the Stags winning 0:2 and just two yellow cards issued.

Previous Games

Alex Chilowicz’s 8 games have been spread between League One (2), League Two (5) and one EFL Trophy game.

Alex Chilowicz Card Watch 2023/24

Games – 8

Yellows –30

Reds – 0

Penalty Awards – 0

Wigan Athletic v Exeter City
Referee – Alex Chilowicz
Assistants – Mark Cunliffe and Karl Buckley
Fourth Official – Kenwyn Hughes

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