The selected referee for this weekend’s fixture against Stevenage is Neil Hair, with assistants Matthew Jones and Ryan Whitaker.
Hair usually officiates our games with Bolton, having done so three times, but he’s no stranger to the Imps. Most recently, he oversaw us on Boxing Day 2023, when Bolton won 1-0 at Sincil Bank. It was a game where Danny Mandroiu was rightly sent off, leaving City to play the final stages with ten men. Three Lincoln players were booked, while Bolton’s only caution went to Kyle Dempsey late on. Eoin Toal struck the decisive goal in the 89th minute to settle a tight contest.
The previous meeting under the same referee was the 2-0 defeat at Bolton in October 2022. Bolton led at the break through Dion Charles’ penalty on 40 minutes, before Jón Daði Böðvarsson added a second on 84 minutes. Five players were cautioned in total, three for Bolton and two for City: Adam Jackson and Ben House.
Looking back to January 2022, City recorded a 2-1 win away at Plymouth Argyle with Haitr officiating. After falling behind to Luke Jephcott’s first-half goal, the Imps turned the game around through John Marquis and a late winner from Max Melbourne. Discipline-wise, City picked up four bookings, one of which was current star Conor McGrandles, while Plymouth’s only yellow card went to Jordan Garrick, who would represent the Imps a year later.
In January 2020, City ran out emphatic 5-1 winners against Bolton at Sincil Bank. Goals came from Harry Anderson, Tyler Walker, an own goal, and a brace from John Akinde. There were just two cautions in the match, one for each side, Conor Coventry for City and Ronan Darcy for Bolton, another easy game for Hair.
Further back, the 2-2 draw with Carlisle United in October 2018 passed without a single booking or dismissal. Michael O’Connor and Bruno Andrade scored for City, while Ashley Nadesan struck twice for the visitors in the first half. That game was famously dubbed Watergate for Danny Cowley’s rant at the state of the pitch, but Hair was faultless.
The first time we saw him was back in the National League, at a crucial meeting with Braintree Town in March 2017, which ended in a 4-0 win for City. Lee Angol scored a hat-trick, including a penalty, on his debut, with Nathan Arnold adding another late on. The only card shown in the match was a yellow for Luke Waterfall.
Hair has officiated ten League One matches this season, and is 24/69 for fouls per game, which is a little above average, but not too serious. He’s 26/69 for fouls per tackle, so is seemingly consistent, but he won’t get his card out without reason – with 2.8 bookings per game, he’s 56/69 across the division. He has sent one player off, Steven Sessegnon, in a game between Leyton Orient and Wigan.
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