Championship newbie Ruebyn Ricardo, a referee with an interesting back story, is the man in the middle for QPR's Good Friday home game with Watford.

Referee >>> Ruebyn Ricardo (Leicestershire), made his QPR debut in the 0-0 draw with Oxford earlier this season.

Assistants >>> Alistair Nelson (Nottinghamshire) and George Byrne (Suffolk)

Fourth Official >>> Sam Allison (Trowbridge)

History

QPR 0 Oxford United 0, Wednesday October 1, 2025, Championship

QPR: Nardi 5; Dunne 6, Cook 6, Mbengue 6, Norrington-Davies 6; Dembele 5 (Saito 61, 6), Hayden 5 (Varane 81, -), Field 5 (Madsen 61, 6), Vale 5 (Smyth 75, 5); Kone 5, Frey 4 (Burrell 61, 6)

Subs not used: Morgan, Esquerdinha, Hamer, Morrison

Yellow Cards: Mbengue 74 (foul), Burrell 87 (foul), Norrington-Davies 90+3 (scuffle)

Oxford: Cumming 6; Spencer 6, Helik 6, Long 6, Currie 6 (Leigh 90+5, -); Placheta 5 (Mills 69, 5), De Keersmaecker 6, Brannagan 5, Krastev 5 (Dembele 56, 5); Lankshear 5 (L Harris 69, 5), Prelec 5 (M Harris 90+5, -)

Subs Not used: Davies, Goodrham, Ingram, Vaulks

Yellow Cards: L Harris 85 (foul)

Referee - Ruebyn Ricardo (Leicester) 7 A very good first hour on his first QPR appointment. A rather more ropey last half hour concluding with the nonsense in stoppage time that should have seen Rowett dismissed for deliberately stopping a quick throw in and then trying to burn off all the stoppage time with some general cuntiness – bottled that rather with two yellow cards wafted in the vague direction of both benches. You can only work with what you’ve got at the end of the day, never mind refereeing this I could barely stay awake through it.

Stats

Ruebyn Ricardo, 27, began refereeing in 2013 when a broken wrist prevented him playing sports and his PE teacher asked him to referee the session instead. He was promoted into the national League at the start of 2022/23 and did a first EFL game at the end of that season when Crewe beat Swindon 2-1 in League Two. The following season was again spent mostly in the top division of non-league with a smattering of EFL appearances towards the end, and he also did the Conference play-off tie between Bromley and Altrincham to finish his campaign.

Last season was his first as a regular EFL referee. He showed a chunky 177 yellows and four reds in 38 games (4.657) topped out by four separate hauls of nine cards in a game. He made his Championship debut on new Year’s Day with an Oxford game – their 1-0 away victory at Millwall a first win on the road in the second tier. He did five Championship games in the end and got the FA Vase final between Whyteleafe and Whitstable.

It’s been an active, prolific second year on the list with 122 yellows (4.69) and five reds shown in 26 games. That’s led by ten yellows and a red at Birmingham 2-3 Hull but he’s done eight yellows and a red twice (Hull 1-0 West Brom, Coventry 0-0 Oxford) and a seven and one at the recent Swansea 2-0 Stoke. He showed eight yellow cards in Watford’s 2-0 home loss to Millwall last month, and previously refereed the Hornets for a 0-0 homer with Plymouth last season.

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Pictures - Reuters Connect

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