The Ref - Neil Swarbrick

Neil Swarbrick of Lancashire takes charge of his first Premiership match on Saturday in our game away at Fulham, but who is he? And how will he fare?

Well, the first stat which jumps out is the fact the 44-year-old has given at least 1 yellow card in every game this season, 50 in total through 16 games, with the highest being 6 in a game between Chesterfield & Shrewsbury. The likes of Lee Cattermole ought to watch out.

While he's swift with the yellows, not so much with the red cards, only dishing out two this season. However one of those was in his last fixture - Carlisle's 1-1 draw with Rochdale.

The second thing I've noticed is this would appear to be a Ref who lets the game flow. How? Well there's been at least 3 goals total scored in 10 of his 16 games this season.

Swarbrick has also given 7 penalties in those 16 games.

All in all, I think this suggests Saturday could be more eventful than previously thought. Hopefully, we won't be signing up to Facebook Groups like the one below, after the match...

http://ja-jp.facebook.com/group.php?gid=61863475680