Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
Refwatch: Fleetwood v Dale
Thursday, 12th Oct 2017 18:38 by TVOS

Referee John Brooks will take charge of a Dale match for the second time this season when we visit Fleetwood on Saturday.

The Leicestershire official was in the middle for the 0-0 home draw versus Bury at the end of August in which he sent-off The Shakers’ goalkeeper, Joe Murphy, for handling outside the area.

Surprisingly, Bury managed to get the decision overturned on appeal!

John is in his second season on the National List and just over a year ago he refereed Dale’s game at Millwall.

Fans will recall Dale won 3-2 at The Den thanks to a last-minute Ian Henderson penalty shortly after the home side had been reduced to ten men!

Mr Brooks had a busy first season in the EFL, taking charge of 36 matches up and down the country. This has continued this term with 13 appointments already before the weekend. In those fixtures, he has shown 48 yellow cards and two red.

His Leicestershire base means his games are likely to be spread far and wide, as evidenced this season by visits to Colchester, Plymouth, Exeter and Southend.

He has also already been to Fleetwood this term, refereeing their 2-0 home defeat of AFC Wimbledon in August.

John moved up from refereeing in the National League in summer 2016, where he ended the campaign taking charge of Grimsby v Braintree in the play-offs.

A few weeks later he was a linesman at the FA Cup Final between Crystal Palace and Manchester United, which was the culmination of several high profile appointments on the line.

Not only did John ‘line’ in the Premier League most weekends, he was also a FIFA assistant, meaning he was involved in many games around Europe.

Lining duties took him to Poland (Legia Warsaw v Midtjylland), Greece (PAOK v Borussia Dortmund) and Cyprus (Cyprus v Bosnia), among several other appointments.

Mr Brooks also made the headlines a few years ago at a Premier League game between Arsenal and Manchester City.

City’s fans had paid in the region of £60 for a match ticket and at the end of the match, John was picked up on a microphone telling a City player to go and thank their fans, with words to the effect of, “they’ve paid sixty quid to watch this game.”

He was ridiculously stood down for the next match, but this alleged misdemeanour hasn’t got in the way of his progress since.

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