The Football League has now announced the officials that will take charge of the match between Lincoln City and Blackpool in the League One Play-Off Final.
Lincoln City take on Blackpool on Sunday, May 30 at Wembley Stadium and the match carries a 3.00pm kick-off.
Referee: Tony Harrington.
Assistants Refs: Ian Cooper and Wade Smith.
Fourth Official: Jarred Gillett.
Reserve Assistant Referee: Shaun Hudson
You can discuss this refereeing appointment HERE, as well as many other topics on our 100% Imps forum! We have also published a Lincoln City v Blackpool Quiz, which can be found just below. Every page view helps raise money for Lincoln City Football Club!
Have a go at our Lincoln City v Blackpool Quiz below:
Tony Harrington began refereeing in the Teesside Junior Football Alliance at the age of 14 after completing a basic refereeing course whilst at school as part of the Duke of Edinburgh award.
Following four years as a Football League assistant referee and four years as a National League referee, he was appointed to the Football League’s Referees List in 2012/13.
Tony Harrington has been the man in the middle for 4 matches involving Lincoln City:
12/03/12: Lincoln City 0-1 Alfreton Town (Conference) – 2 yellow cards
21/04/12: Lincoln City 0-1 Hayes & Yeading (Conference) – 1 red card
03/08/19: Lincoln City 2-0 Accrington Stanley (League One) – 3 yellow cards
24/09/20: Lincoln City 2-7 Liverpool (EFL Cup) – 1 yellow card
TOTALS: Matches: 4 — Yellow Cards: 6 — Red Cards: 1
He received an average rating of 7.825 following the 7-2 defeat at home against Liverpool earlier this season. Some of the comments can be found below:
sedgleyimp: “Personally I barely noticed him. Not a difficult match to referee though he should have booked Minamota for the nasty one on Grant.
WellingtonImp: “Gave a couple of soft free-kicks in dangerous positions, but otherwise handled the game without any fuss – that said, as neither side were getting stuck in, there wasn’t much for him to do other than blow for our offsides. Probably didn’t notice him because his whistle had worn out blowing for restarts, lol. 7/10.”
Scotimp: “Can give no more than a 6. Gave some very soft free kicks (for both sides), and blew his whistle every time a Liverpool player hit the grass. That seems to be the way now – if a player falls over, it must have been a foul. I am in two minds over whether the Grant incident was accidental or not, and remain unconvinced that the first goal was even a foul.”
I’ll start with a decent enough 7.”
Tony Harrington: 2020/21 Stats:
12/09/20: Birmingham City 1-0 Brentford (Championship) – 5 yellow cards
24/09/20: Lincoln City 2-7 Liverpool (EFL Cup) – 1 yellow card
27/09/20: Bristol City 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday (Championship) – 3 yellow cards
17/10/20: Swansea City 1-2 Huddersfield Town (Championship) – 5 yellow cards
20/10/20: Millwall 2-0 Luton Town (Championship) – 3 yellow cards
23/10/20: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Derby County (Championship) – 2 yellow cards
31/10/20: Preston North End 1-2 Birmingham City (Championship) – 1 yellow card
07/11/20: Sheffield Wednesday 0-0 Millwall (Championship) – 2 yellow cards
21/11/20: Middlesbrough 0-1 Norwich City (Championship) – 1 yellow card
24/11/20: Preston North End 0-3 Blackburn Rovers (Championship) – 2 yellow cards and 1 red card
29/11/20: Nottingham Forest 0-1 Swansea City (Championship) – 6 yellow cards
01/12/20: Birmingham City 1-2 Barnsley (Championship) – 3 yellow cards
08/12/20: Stoke City 1-2 Cardiff City (Championship) – 4 yellow cards
12/12/20: Queens Park Rangers 0-1 Reading (Championship) – 1 yellow card
26/12/20: Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday (Championship) – 1 yellow card
29/12/20: Birmingham City 0-4 Derby County (Championship) – 1 yellow card
09/01/21: Stoke City 0-4 Leicester City (FA Cup) – 2 yellow cards
16/01/21: Cardiff City 1-2 Norwich City (Championship) – 4 yellow cards and 1 red card
20/01/21: Birmingham City 0-1 Preston North End (Championship) – 2 yellow cards
23/01/21: Millwall 0-3 Bristol City (FA Cup) – no cards
30/01/21: Rotherham United 1-3 Swansea City (Championship) – 2 yellow cards
02/02/21: Coventry City 1-2 Nottingham Forest (Championship) – 5 yellow cards
06/02/21: Queens Park Rangers 1-0 Blackburn Rovers (Championship) – 5 yellow cards
10/02/21: Reading 1-3 Brentford (Championship) – 1 yellow card
16/02/21: Preston North End 0-1 Watford (Championship) – 1 yellow card
20/02/21: Norwich City 1-0 Rotherham United (Championship) – 1 yellow card
27/02/21: AFC Bournemouth 1-0 Watford (Championship) – 8 yellow cards and 2 red cards
06/03/21: Bristol City 0-2 Queens Park Rangers (Championship) – 5 yellow cards
14/03/21: Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Norwich City (Championship) – 5 yellow cards
20/03/21: Coventry City 0-0 Wycombe Wanderers (Championship) – 2 yellow cards
02/04/21: Birmingham City 1-0 Swansea City (Championship) – 1 yellow card
10/04/21: Preston North End 0-5 Brentford (Championship) – 1 yellow card
17/04/21: Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Bristol City (Championship) – 1 yellow card and 1 red card
01/05/21: Rotherham United 1-1 Blackburn Rovers (Championship) – 3 yellow cards
08/05/21: Queens Park Rangers 3-1 Luton Town (Championship) – 2 yellow cards
TOTALS: Matches: 35 — Yellow Cards: 92 — Red Cards: 5
Tony Harrington took in a total of 34 matches last season, showing 89 yellow cards and 7 red cards.
During the 2018/19 season, Tony Harrington was the man in the middle for a total of 31 matches, showing a total of 103 yellow cards and 3 red cards.
He showed 6 cards on two occasions, both in the Championship: Cardiff City 0-0 Swansea City (6 yellow cards) and Leeds United 3-0 Fulham (5 yellow cards and 1 red card).
He was most card happy in the match between Leeds United and Preston North End in the EFL Cup (0-2) when he showed 8 yellow cards and 1 red card.
Match Day referee Harrington took in 35 matches in 2017/18, showing 118 yellows cards and 6 red cards.
His highest card count that year was 8 yellow cards and 1 red card in the match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bristol Rovers in the EFL Cup (1-0).
Sources: English Football Club & Soccer Base.
Experienced Championship Referee Appointed For Blackpool Clash:https://t.co/R2gJlvaU9T#ImpsAsOne #ProudToBeImps #UTMP
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) May 28, 2021
