Referees, it would seem, are taking centre stage right now.
Both Peterborough and Portsmouth have found plenty to complain about in our games, with Sam Purkiss coming under fire from Pompey fans for his showing on Tuesday. Funnily enough, Purkiss was deemed too lenient by Darren Ferguson in a Posh game but considered card happy by Guy Whittingham in the commentary for the Pompey win. I wonder if perhaps he referees the game he sees it, rather than to type, because I had no complaints with the bookings he dished out at Fratton Park. Anyhow, we don’t have Sam Purkiss this weekend, not that I would be upset if we did. Instead, these are the match officials.
Referee: DARREN BOND
Assistants: George Byrne and Mark Jones
Fourth Official: Akil Howson
You could say we are lucky to be getting Bond – he’s a Championship referee with plenty of experience in the big games, and that could be crucial. Let’s face it – this weekend’s game is massive for both clubs because if they win their games in hand, we would currently be the top two. The winner of this game sounds a big warning to the rest of League One, just as we did against Pompey.
We have crossed paths with Darren Bond before, his first time officiating a Lincoln game saw two red cards. That was during the 3-3 draw with Gateshead in our first BSP season, and both alan Power and the Heed’s James Marwood were sent off for what is described as ‘an altercation’. He was back in charge of our matches in April as we were thrashed 4-0 by Stockport in a game best forgotten, but not because of the official. That was the last time we saw Mr Bond in a Lincoln game, but he has been in charge of our boss before.
Bond was promoted to the Football League the following season, even taking charge of a Championship game as he was fast-tracked. He handled a League One play-off semi-final the year after, enjoying the sort of rise (in refereeing terms at least) that we have since 2016/17. It was during the 2016/17 season he officiated in a match featuring Michael Appleton as a manager, with League One Oxford winning 3-2 at Championship side Rotherham in the FA Cup Third Round, a game in which Oxford missed a penalty.
Last season he officiated the League One play-off semi-final between Wycombe and Fleetwood (not the one with all the red cards), and so far this season all of his games, bar one, have been in the Championship or a cup. He was in charge of Chelsea’s 6-0 hammering of Barnsley in the EFL Cup, as well as one solitary League One game in which Ipswich beat Burton. In 17 matches he has shown just two red cards, and 57 yellows, averaging around three per game.