The referee for this weekend’s fixture between Port Vale and Lincoln City is Andrew Humphries, ably assisted by Drew Dutton and Aaron Hallam. Thomas Harty is the fourth official.
Humphries is a second-year referee, having been in the National League in 2023/24, stepping up to do a single League Two match. Last season, he took his first League One game, Barnsley and Peterborough, and a National League play-off game between Rochdale and Southend United.
We have only had him once, during the 1-0 defeat against Exeter City back in October. He didn’t impress me back then, with me saying, ‘I thought in the main he started okay, but as the game wore on, he broke up play more than Exeter did. His performance played into their hands, and while the cards stayed in the pocket, I felt he lacked any authority’.
One thing that annoyed me was booking their keeper for time-wasting early on, and not stepping up and sending him off when he carried on doing it in the second half. Relatively small things.
He’s not a bad ref in terms of cards and fouls; he’s 38/72 for fouls per game, 22.24, which is relatively low. Fould per tackle is even lower, 0.70, which is 51/72. He’s certainly on the lenient side, which I can handle. He’s a similar placement for yellows per game, averaging a little over three, but for reds, he does climb, having sent off Bolton man Josh Dacres-Cogley for two bookings and Hayden Coulson of Blackpool.
Having watched both back, I think they’re fair, but Ian Evatt did have a little moan about timekeeping from the officials after their defeat against Wycombe, in which Coulson was dismissed.
Still, Evatt moaning about referees, water is wet, etc.