The Football League has now announced the officials that will take charge of the match between Sunderland and Lincoln City in the Semi-Final of the EFL Trophy.
Sunderland host Lincoln City on Wednesday, February 7 for the match at the Stadium of Light and the match carries a 6.00pm kick-off.
Referee: Ben Toner.
Assistants Refs: Andrew Dallison and David Hunt.
Fourth Official: James Bell.
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 Sunderland 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 Sunderland Quiz below:
Ben Toner has been the man in the middle for 14 matches involving Lincoln City:
12/02/13: Stockport County 2-0 Lincoln City (Conference) – 3 yellow cards
23/03/13: Lincoln City 3-2 Telford United (Conference) – no cards shown
12/11/13: Southport 0-1 Lincoln City (Conference) – 1 yellow card
15/02/14: Lincoln City 2-0 Kidderminster Harriers (Conference) – 6 yellow cards
13/09/14: Lincoln City 2-3 Bristol Rovers (Conference) – 1 yellow card
17/01/17: Lincoln City 1-0 Ipswich Town (FA Cup) – 3 yellow cards
09/01/18: Rochdale 0-1 Lincoln City (EFL Trophy) – 3 yellow cards
12/05/18: Lincoln City 0-0 Exeter City (League Two Playoffs) – 1 yellow card
27/11/18: Oldham Athletic 1-1 Lincoln City (League Two) – 6 yellow cards and 1 red card
12/01/19: Swindon Town 2-2 Lincoln City (League Two) – 3 yellow cards and 2 red cards
07/12/19: Burton Albion 0-2 Lincoln City (League One) – 6 yellow cards
28/01/20: Lincoln City 0-2 Portsmouth (League One) – 7 yellow cards
06/10/20: Mansfield Town 1-3 Lincoln City (EFL Trophy) – 4 yellow cards
08/12/20: Shrewsbury Town 1-4 Lincoln City (EFL Trophy) – 1 yellow card
TOTALS: Matches: 14 — Yellow Cards: 45 — Red Cards: 3
He received an average rating of 7.96 following the 4-1 win away at Shrewsbury Town in the EFL Trophy earlier this season. Some of the comments can be found below:
sedgleyimp: “For me absolutely fine. Again not a difficult one to referee but was in no doubt over the penalty and let the game flow pretty well. 8/10 for me.”
WellingtonImp: “8. Despite his best efforts on several occasions to get himself booked, he didn’t book McGrandles (or did he, and he missed it?). Gave the penalty. Let the game flow freely, helped by a dominant Imps.”
PerthImp: “Didn’t realise that was Ben Atonement 🤔. Maybe it was just a Cowley thing and he hated all the gamesmanship and constant ‘in your ear’ complaining. Now we’re playing free-flowing football under MA he appreciates us more and takes a more lenient approach. I’ll give him 7.5
Ben Toner: 2020/21 Stats:
05/09/20: Huddersfield Town 0-1 Rochdale (EFL Cup) – no cards shown
08/09/20: Accrington Stanley 7-0 Leeds United U21s (EFL Trophy) – 3 yellow cards
15/09/20: Morecambe 1-0 Oldham Athletic (EFL Cup) – 6 yellow cards
19/09/20: Hull City 1-0 Crewe Alexandra (League One) – 6 yellow cards
26/09/20: Port Vale 0-0 Harrogate Town (League Two) – 2 yellow cards
03/10/20: Carlisle United 1-0 Barrow (League Two) – 7 yellow cards and 1 red card
06/10/20: Mansfield Town 1-3 Lincoln City (EFL Trophy) – 4 yellow cards
17/10/20: Swindon Town 0-2 Sunderland (League One) – 3 yellow cards
27/10/20: Bolton Wanderers 1-0 Bradford City (League Two) – 3 yellow cards
03/11/20: Blackpool 1-0 Wigan Athletic (League One) – no cards
07/11/20: Boreham Wood 3-3 Southend United (FA Cup) – 5 yellow cards
29/11/20: Barnet 0-1 Milton Keynes Dons (FA Cup) – 1 yellow card
01/12/20: Forest Green Rovers 1-1 Newport County (League Two) – 4 yellow cards
08/12/20: Shrewsbury Town 1-4 Lincoln City (EFL Trophy) – 1 yellow card
12/12/20: Salford City 0-0 Cheltenham Town (League Two) – 1 yellow card
26/12/20: Tranmere Rovers 0-1 Bradford City (League Two) – 2 yellow cards
02/01/21: Mansfield Town 4-0 Port Vale (League Two) – 4 yellow cards and 1 red card
16/01/21: Grimsby Town 0-0 Southend United (League Two) – 5 yellow cards
23/01/21: Portsmouth 0-4 Hull City (League One) – 3 yellow cards
09/02/21: Peterborough United 2-1 Ipswich Town (League One) – 2 yellow cards
TOTALS: Matches: 20 — Yellow Cards: 62 — Red Cards: 2
Ben Toner was the man with the whistle for 28 matches’ last season. In those matches, he showed 94 yellow cards and 6 red cards.
He was rather card happy in The Imps home match against Portsmouth (0-2) in League One in January, showing 7 yellow cards.
Ben Toner oversaw 38 matches during the 2018/19 season. He showed a total of 120 yellow cards and 6 red cards.
He was most card happy in the match between Notts County and Northampton Town (2-2) in Sky Bet League Two when he showed 8 yellow cards and 1 red card.
Toner was the man in the middle for 37 matches during the 2017/18 season. In those matches, he showed a total of 105 yellow cards and 5 red cards.
He showed 9 cards on two occasions, both in Sky Bet League Two: Crewe Alexandra 3-0 Crawley Town (7 yellow cards and 2 red cards) and Notts County 0-0 Wycombe Wanderers (9 yellow cards), including a booking for former Imp Terry Hawkridge (Notts County).
Sources: English Football League & Soccer Base.
Officials Confirmed For EFL Trophy Match Versus Sunderland:https://t.co/GBcnU5JEEb#SAFC #HawayTheLads #ImpsAsOne pic.twitter.com/aLK8Q9dAzy
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) February 12, 2021
