Langford in charge of QPR's Doncaster trip - referee
Tuesday, 26th Nov 2013 22:29 by Clive Whittingham

West Midlands official Oliver Langford, who averaged less than two yellow cards a game last season, is the man in charge of QPR's trip to Doncaster this weekend.

Referee >>> Oliver Langford (West Midlands), first QPR appointment since 2011 League Cup defeat against Rochdale.

Assistants >>> Karl Evans (Lancashire) and Shaun Hudson (Tyne and Wear)

Fourth Official >>> Nigel Murphy (Notts)

History

http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/queensparkrangers/news/13772/rochdale-pros 0 Rochdale 2, Tuesday August 23, 2011, League Cup

A Taarabt through ball on the hour might have been the moment of magic the game begged for, but it rolled just out of Andrade’s reach and through to Lucas. A little controversy may have livened things up too but when Grimes ran onto a long, high through ball that Shittu had misjudged and then tried to whip it back over the head of the big Nigerian his penalty appeals for a perceived handball were rightly ignored by referee Oliver Langford. Whether my Langford actually knew what handball was however was open to debate as a moment later when Stephen Darby miscontrolled the ball and decided to bring it down with his hand instead in plain sight of the match official who ignored it and played on.

QPR: Murphy 5, Orr 5 (Harriman 31, 6), Perone 6, Shittu 5, Connolly 6, Ephraim 5, Rowlands 5 (Derry 72, 5), Andrade 6, Taarabt 4, Cook 4 (Hewitt 73, 5), Bothroyd 4

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Buzsaky, Gibbons, German

Rochdale: Lucas 7, Darby 7, Holness 7, Balkestein 8, Widdowson 7, Tutte 7, Kennedy 7, Jones 7, Adams 8, Grimes 8 (Thompson 83, -), Akpa Akpro 7

Subs Not Used: Edwards, Twaddle, Marshall, Gray

Booked: Widdowson (foul)

Goals: Akpa Akpro 5 (assisted Adams), Jones 81 (assisted Adams)

Referee: Oliver Langford (W Midlands) 6 No key decisions wrong but failed to play obvious advantages on numerous occasions and missed the most obvious handball I’ve ever seen in my life from Darby in the second half.

QPR 1 Peterborough 1, Saturday September 12, 2009, Championship

Before half time Whelpdale had a half hearted penalty appeal waved away, Zakuani was rightly carded for a clumsy foul on Simpson and Ephraim burst into the penalty area but dragged a low shot across the face of goal and wide of the far post.

Cerny comfortably tipped a Morgan free kick over the bar but when the same player headed wide from a corner he was a mile away from it and was then grateful to see Rowe’s low shot deflected wide of the target later in the half. Certainly it was Peterborough rather than Rangers who came home with a wet sail. Connolly and Borrowdale were both booked for fouls on Frecklington and Batt respectively as frustration grew around Loftus Road.

QPR: Cerny 5, Leigertwood 6, Connolly 6, Stewart 6, Borrowdale 5, Routledge 6, Watson 6, Faurlin 6 (Rowlands 58, 5), Ephraim 5 (Buzsaky 69, 6),Simpson 6, Taarabt 6 (Vine 58, 4)

Subs Not Used: Heaton, Ramage, Mahon, Pellicori.

Booked: Connolly (foul), Borrowdale (foul)

Goals: Routledge 34 (assisted Simpson)

Peterborough: Lewis 6, Martin 6, Morgan 6, Zakuani 6, Williams 7,Whelpdale 6 (Batt 70, 6), Frecklington 7, Diagouraga 6, Boyd 7 (Rowe 65, 6),McLean 8, Mackail-Smith 6

Subs Not Used
McKeown, Coutts, Keates, Pearce, Day

Booked: Zakuani (foul), Batt (foul)

Goals: Mclean 16 (assisted Williams)

Referee: Oliver Langford (W Midlands) 8 Very little to referee in his first ever Championship match but he seemed calm, in control and willing to give the game every chance to flow. Very few complaints about his performance at all.

Stats

So far this season Langford has shown 28 yellow cards and a single red in 13 appointments. He booked seven when Rotherham won 1-0 at Brentford in League One, and six in the match between Watford and Forest but has shown no cards at all on four separate occasions this season and has only booked three players in his last four outings. Five of his appointments, 12 of his yellow cards and his only red have come in the Championship.

Last season he showed a very low 60 yellows and four reds in 37 games — I can’t ever recall writing up a referee with an average as low as 1.67 yellows a match over a full season. He kept his cards in his pocket altogether on 11 occasions and showed just a single yellow card in five other games. His last Doncaster appointment was a 2-1 away win at Shrewsbury in League One last season where he showed no yellows, but did send off the home side’s David McAllister deep into the second half.

The last time Rovers were in the Championship (2011/12) he refereed their 3-0 defeat at Derby and 0-0 draw at home to Cardiff.

Other Listings

Premier League >>> No games this weekend for Kevin Friend and Anthony Taylor for their respective red card howlers at Stoke and Hull last weekend, but Neil Swarbrick does get another game (Villa v Sunderland) despite failing to send off Wayne Rooney at Cardiff on Sunday.

Championship >>> Interesting, given last weekend’s Premier League controversy, which referees stepped down this week but the second tier gets only Jon Moss from upstairs — he has Bournemouth v Brighton.

League Two >>> Gavin Ward has Bristol Rovers v Wimbledon, Trevor Kettle has Southend v Cheltenham.

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