Ref Watch: Lincoln City v Bolton Wanderers

Referee: Will Finnie
Assistant Referee: Richard Wigglesworth, Danny Guest
Fourth Official: Simon Mather

This is an actual ref watch, as opposed to hundreds of old ones all being published again, on the same day, by accident. If you know, you know. If you don’t, probably for the best.

Will Finnie came through the National League quickly and made a lasting impression. In 2018/19, he refereed 22 matches, sending off no fewer than nine players. I think some of the National League managers probably felt happy to see the back of him, but his officiating earned him a spot on the EFL list.

He has calmed down; three reds in 27 matches in 2019/20 saw to that, and we had him just once. He took charge of our Boxing Day 2019 defeat at the Kassam, as we went down 1-0 to Oxford. There was an incident in that game where John Mousinho could have been sent off for tugging back Tyler Walker as he went through on goal. At the time, some called for a red, but Finnie aimed to keep it 11v11 unless absolutely necessary and awarded a yellow. A good omen? Possibly.

He flashed a red in a game involving us the next campaign, showing one to Nathan Thompson in the incident that saw us awarded a penalty against Peterborough at the Bank. As you know, we missed the penalty and the referee came under fire from their manager, but I felt he had a decent game. In fact, I said this of him: “I felt Finnie had a superb game, allowing it to flow but also being strict enough with his cards to ensure it didn’t boil over. Hats off to him for that, it is easy to lash out at officials when they’re bad, but it is important to praise them when they do well.”

Later in the season, he took charge of our 1-0 win against Bristol Rovers, another game I don’t recall being a bad one in terms of the officiating. He did send off Ed Upson for them, but it was deserved. Since then, we’ve had him just twice, as we lost 3-1 to Oxford in 2021/22 and, ominously, as we went down 3-0 to Bolton on the opening day of the 2023/24 season.