Northamptonshire official Andy Woolmer has been seconded to Loftus Road this week for the less than eagerly anticipated cup replay between QPR and Sheffield United.

QPR v Sheffield United
Referee: Andy Woolmer (Northamptonshire)
Assistants – McCoy (Sussex) and George (Norfolk)
Fourth Official – Sarginson (Staffordshire)

Thankfully no return for Andy Hall for this replay, although he really didn’t do too badly at all in the first game. The man in charge at Loftus Road tonight is Northamptonshire official Andy Woolmer. He’s best remembered as the guy that looks like the bloke with the pet mouse in The Green Mile. So far this season he has shown 31 yellow cards (2.38 a game) and a red in 13 matches, four of which have been in the Championship where he has shown eight yellows (two a game) and no reds. His biggest haul in a single game is five yellows and a red at Walsall v Oldham in League One. He has failed to show a card at all in three games this season and has shown one card or less in three of his last four matches.

Last season he showed 98 yellows (2.45 a game) and six reds in 40 games. That included four yellows (one for Peter Ramage) in a 2-1 Burnley win at Loftus Road in the league in November during Gareth Ainsworth’s first spell in caretaker charge. The game swung on two penalty decisions, neither of them given, that would have seen QPR take a point had they been awarded. A rating of four out of ten placed Woolmer very close to the bottom of the referee league.

Referee: Andy Woolmer 4 Should probably have sent Ramage off in the first minute and harshly booked Gudjonsson in the second half but the main talking points were the two penalty decisions. The first one I thought was but can see why he didn’t give it as it was a shoulder to shoulder tangle, the second I thought was nailed on. Having not given those he then proceeded to whistle up for every meagre bit of contact anywhere else on the pitch including in the build up to the second Burnley goal which was a very inconsistent attitude to take. Failed to clamp down on Jensen’s time wasting but did ad on five minutes for it at the end. LFW Burnley Match Report

His last QPR game before that was three seasons ago at home to Sheffield Wednesday, a game that finished 1-1 with seven yellow cards. Another rating of four for that performance saw him finish joint 26th on the referee league.

Referee: Andy Woolmer 4 Over fussy throughout, made Rangers take the kick off again and got steadily more pedantic from there. Seven yellow cards is a ridiculous haul for that game, especially when Whelen didn't get one despite countless fouls and dissent, and Wood didn't get a second one for the penalty incident. Carding Cook for diving was a joke decision - there are occasions when players go to ground and it's neither a dive nor a foul you know. LFW Sheff Wed Match Report

His last Sheffield United fixture was a 2-2 draw at Plymouth in the league in February where four yellow cards were shown, ioncluding three to United players.

Elsewhere Kevin Friend has the Birmingham v Forest game, and Andy D’Urso has Newcastle v Plymouth. Looking further ahead we have Trevor bloody Kettle in charge at Blackpool on Saturday, a full dosier on that idiot will be online later this week.

Photo: Action Images

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