Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
Refwatch Preview: Dale v Stoke
Sunday, 25th Jan 2015 07:00 by TVOS

Select Group and international referee Martin Atkinson will take charge of Dale’s FA Cup fourth round tie at home to Stoke City on Monday night.

The Morley-based whistler is regarded as one of the top referees in the country and appears at Premier League fixtures on almost every matchday.

He is also an Elite FIFA Match Official, which means he referees up to Champions League and international levels.

Indeed, so far this season Martin has refereed Bayer Leverkusen v Benfica, Juventus v Olympiakos and Barcelona v Paris St Germain in the Champions League.

Internationally, he has overseen two Euro 2016 qualifiers this term, although one brought Mr Atkinson arguably his lowest moment in football.

That was back in October when he was in charge of Serbia v Albania, a game he eventually abandoned due to all manner of crowd disturbances and even a low-flying drone!

Martin’s other international appointment this season was Austria v Russia in November.

All told this season, he has refereed 24 games, showing 90 yellow cards and three red.

His domestic appointments include Liverpool v Everton, Chelsea v Arsenal, Newcastle v Chelsea and Manchester United v Liverpool in the Premier League, as well as Liverpool v Chelsea in the Capital One Cup semi-final last Tuesday.

Stoke last saw Mr Atkinson in November when he was in the middle for their 2-1 home loss to Burnley, while back in 2011 he was the referee for their FA Cup Final defeat to Manchester City.

All these prestigious appointments will have seemed a million miles away for Martin when he took charge of his first Football League game — Macclesfield v Boston — on 9th August 2003.

A month later he refereed Dale’s 2-1 win at York in which Kevin Townson and Leo Bertos scored our goals inside the first 15 minutes, although Paul Connor and City’s Stuart Wise were later sent-off for an off-the-ball fracas.

Dale again saw Mr Atkinson in January 2004 for Steve Parkin’s first game back at the club — a 1-0 home defeat of Torquay with Townson scoring from the spot — but he hasn’t refereed us home or away in the meantime.

Photo: Action Images



Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.


You need to login in order to post your comments

Rochdale Polls

About Us Contact Us Terms & Conditions Privacy Cookies Advertising
© FansNetwork 2024