The man with the whistle for Saturday's npower League Two encounter against Bradford City is Neil Swarbrick from Lancashire. County fans won't be overjoyed by Neil's appointment as we are yet to win with this particular referee in charge. We've also had 'issues' with the Preston based referee.
County haven't had the pleasure of Neil's company since the 2008/09 season when he happened to take charge of two matches involving our beloved team. The first match was a home game with Northampton Town which we drew 1-1 and there was no incident of note involving the match officials. His next match covering County saw him make the short journey to Prenton Park as he oversaw our 2-1 defeat at Tranmere and the only incident of note involving the referee saw him correctly award a penalty in the third minute of injury time with the home side already 1-0 up and coasting to victory. Former County player Ian Thomas-Moore duly despatched the resultant spot kick past Owain Fon Williams before substitute Oli Johnson halved the scoreline in the fourth minute of injury time following a goalmouth scramble.
Former manager Jim Gannon was no big fan of this particular referee as he encountered problems in two matches in the past. In the 2007/08 season Neil took charge of our home match against Rotherham United in August and the match ended in a 2-2 draw with Rotherham's first equaliser owing much to the incompetence of the match referee from Lancashire.
Swarbrick awarded a free-kick to the Millers by the left wing and whilst he was walking away to gain a good vantage point to watch for jostling inside the area, Stephen Brogan decided to take it upon himself to take the set piece without waiting for the whistle to go. The referee then blew his whistle with the ball already in mid flight, most of the Rotherham and County players stopped in their tracks as they didn't know what was happening, and Ian Sharps was left unmarked at the back post to head the ball home. Instead of ordering for the free-kick to be retaken, he allowed the goal to stand much to the annoyance of the County bench and fans.
Gannon was also not impressed with the referee's performance during a Johnstone's Paints Trophy match against Chester City as he had felt that the offical had offered the players absolutely no protection as an extremely physical Chester side beat us 3-0. Despite Chester's aggressive play, only two players were cautioned (David Artell and Phil Bolland) on the night.
Swarbrick was also the referee who incurred the wrath of both Stockport and Torquay during the 2005/06 season, as he postponed our crucial League Two clash at Edgeley Park just an hour before kick off! That midweek clash against the Gulls in January was postponed late on due to a frozen pitch, with fans left wondering why the game had not been called off earlier. A quick look at the weather forecast by the referee could have saved the Gulls fans a 500 mile round trip as the weather was only going to deteriorate and not get better.
Past games involving the Hatters:
|
Season
|
Opponents
|
Result
|
Yellow
cards |
Red
cards |
| 2008/09 | Tranmere Rovers (A) | L 2-1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2008/09 | Northampton Town (H) | D 1-1 | 2 | 0 |
|
2007/08
|
Rotherham United (H) |
D 2-2
|
0
|
0
|
|
2006/07
|
Chester City (A) |
L 3-0
|
2
|
0
|
|
2005/06
|
Torquay United (H) |
D 1-1
|
1
|
0
|
|
2005/06
|
Lincoln City (A) |
L 2-0
|
0
|
0
|
Source: 2010/11 season stats
Referee profile:
Neil is another referee who started refereeing somewhat later than most National List officials being twenty nine. Making rapid progress he reached the National List of assistant referees in only six years, spending four years at this level before being promoted to the referees’ list. He has refereed the Pontins’ League Cup Final and a Conference Play Off Semi-Final and has also officiated at FL Play Off Semi- Finals.
Source: refworld.com
Neil will be assisted on Saturday by Daniel Meeson and Michael Salisbury and the fourth official will be Chris Kavanagh.