We continue our build up to Saturday's curtain raiser against Southend United by looking at the man who will be in the middle for the match. Iain Williamson from Berkshire will be the first official in charge of the Hatters as we kick off life in npower League Two.

Iain has only officiated in two previous matches involving the Hatters, and those matches came during the 2003/04 season and the 2008/09 season.

The last time we had the pleasure of the Berkshire based referee's company came when we travelled to the New Den on Saturday 15th November 2008. County lost 1-0 to Millwall on that day after conceding a late David Martin free-kick and the referee dished out no fewer than 9 yellow cards in the game. 5 yellow cards were shown to County players as Dom Blizzard, Craig Davies, Owain Fon Williams, Leon McSweeney and James Tunnicliffe were all cautioned. The referee was involved in several controversial moments during the game, with most of the decisions going against the Hatters.

The first incident came towards the end of the first half when striker Craig Davies was involved in an altercation with Paul Robinson. County's Davies had already been booked although the referee opted not to issue a second caution which proved to be a let off for the on loan Oldham player. County manager Jim Gannon wasn't in such a forgiving mood, as he replaced the player at half time.

Millwall scored what proved to be the winner on 74 minutes and there was some controversy surrounding that as well. Midfielder Dominic Blizzard was harshly adjudged to have fouled striker Neil Harris on the edge of the area which resulted in the hosts being awarded a free-kick. David Martin smashed the ball through the wall after Gary Alexander appeared to push County defenders out of the way to create a gap and the goal stood.

With nine minutes left to go in the game, County were denied a chance of an equaliser as Tommy Rowe went down inside the box only for the referee to wave away the strong appeals for a penalty from the County players.

Past games involving the Hatters:

• 2008/09 season stats

Head of Sales for a company within the Financial Sector, Iain is married with one young son and first qualified as a referee in 1991 at age fifteen. He progressed to the National List of Assistant Referees in 1999 and reached the Referees’ List three years later. Has officiated on the FL Play Off Semi Finals as assistant, 4th Official and Referee since 2002. His hobbies include golf, horseracing and spending time with his family.

(from refworld.com)

Iain will be assisted on the day by R T Atkin and M F Thompson with the fourth official being I J Crouch.

Photo: Action Images

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