Referee: Edward Duckworth
Assistant Referees: Ashley Allen, Matthew Joyce
Fourth Official: Abigail Byrne
Duckworth is a Championship referee, fitting for a game in which we could be promoted to the Championship. He began his refereeing career in the Lancashire Sunday League before being added to the National League list for the 2022/23 season. He made his Championship debut on 4 October 2025, overseeing the fixture between Bristol City and Queens Park Rangers at Ashton Gate.
He’s only officiated one Imps game, away at Burton on the opening day of last season, where we won 3-2. I wasn’t at the game, and it was one of the last I couldn’t even watch, as I was at a festival. This season, as a respected lower league referee, he stepped into the second tier and has a decent reputation across the game.
In his 14 League One outings, he’s 46/68 for fouls per game, which means his figure is relatively low. If a referee has fewer games, this can be skewed by having a couple of easy ones, but as the most games reffed at this level is 18 (Seb Stockbridge), Duckworth’s numbers stack up well.
His ratio for yellows per game is about the same, 45/68, although fouls per tackle is a little higher at 0.75, which is 28/68. I expect him not to let a lot go, but not to overreact either, perhaps erring on the side of strict without ever letting the game get away from him.