Sunderland (h): Match Officials

The Football League has now announced the officials that will take charge of the match between Lincoln City and Sunderland in League One.

Lincoln City host Sunderland on Saturday, March 19 for the match at Sincil Bank, and the match carries a 15:00 kick-off.

Referee: Craig Hicks.
Assistants Refs: Danny Gratton and Abbas Khan.
Fourth Official: Conor Brown.

You can discuss this refereeing appointment HERE, as well as many other topics on our 100% Imps forum! Every page view helps raise money for Lincoln City Football Club!

Sunderland (h - 19/03/22): Will The Imps Win, Lose or Draw?

Win

Lose

Draw

Craig Hicks has been the man in the middle for 14 matches involving Lincoln City:

12/04/14: Salisbury City 1-2 Lincoln City (Conference) – 1 yellow card
16/08/14: Barnet 1-2 Lincoln City (Conference) – 3 yellow cards
11/10/14: Lincoln City 2-0 AFC Telford United (Conference) – 5 yellow cards
14/11/15: Lincoln City 1-0 Tranmere Rovers (Conference) – 5 yellow cards
03/09/16: Torquay United 1-2 Lincoln City (Conference) – 3 yellow cards
04/03/17: Aldershot Town 0-0 Lincoln City (Conference) – 2 yellow cards
19/08/17: Exeter City 1-0 Lincoln City (League Two) – 3 yellow cards
11/11/17: Crewe Alexandra 1-4 Lincoln City (League Two) – 1 yellow card
23/03/19: Crawley Town 0-3 Lincoln City (League Two) – 1 yellow card
24/08/19: Doncaster Rovers 2-1 Lincoln City (League One) – 5 yellow cards
15/12/20: Lincoln City 0-1 Shrewsbury Town (League One) – 3 yellow cards
19/05/21: Lincoln City 2-0 Sunderland (League One Play-Off Semi-Final) – 3 yellow cards
25/09/21: Burton Albion 1-2 Lincoln City (League One) – 3 yellow cards
27/11/21: Lincoln City 0-1 Accrington Stanley (League One) – 4 yellow cards

TOTALS: Matches: 14 — Yellow Cards: 41 — Red Cards: 0

He received an average rating of 5.25 following the 1-0 defeat at home against Accrington Stanley earlier this season. Some of the comments can be found below:

berksimps: “Seemingly fell for some of the time-wasting but in fairness 5 mins was added on at the end. Difficult conditions, early bookings gave him control and he played good advantages to both sides. 8/10.”

oldguard: “So inconsistent. During the first half, Maguire sustained an impact injury during an awesome challenge from Stanley’s centre-half. Maguire stayed down prostrate on the pitch and the game (rightly in conjunction with the current rules) continued. Within seconds the ball was contested by Robson and a Stanley midfielder. The ensuing challenge resulted in Robson sustaining a head injury and Robson also fell onto the pitch clutching his head. The referee could clearly see that Robson had a head injury but allowed play to continue whilst two Lincoln players were in need of attention. The game was only stopped when the ball went into touch. Robson required lengthy medical attention and due to a blood injury had to change his shirt. Remarkably throughout the second half, the referee stopped play on numerous occasions when he suspected a Stanley player appeared to have sustained an injury even though none were head injuries The referee showed no consistency regarding injuries. If Maguire’s injury is not going to mean a stoppage, then neither should Stanley’s numerous injuries result in a stoppage either. Also, a clear disregard for Robson’s safety and not following head injury protocol was bloody awful as he was let me make it clear the referee was not responsible for the defeat today. A big fat Zero nonetheless.”

impsimps: “Looked to be losing it second half, fell for their dying swan antics, very average 4.

I see John Busby made a return visit to Peterborough today, just hope he is not appointed for an LCFC game anytime soon.”

Craig Hicks: 2021/22 Stats:

07/08/21: Ipswich Town 2-2 Morecambe (League One) – 5 yellow cards
11/08/21: Leyton Orient 1-1 Queens Park Rangers (EFL Cup) – 2 yellow cards
17/08/21: Walsall 1-1 Scunthorpe United (League Two) – 3 yellow cards
21/08/21: Charlton Athletic 0-2 Wigan Athletic (League One) – 4 yellow cards
11/09/21: Rotherham United 2-4 Fleetwood Town (League One) – 3 yellow cards
14/09/21: Newport County 0-1 Northampton Town (League Two) – 4 yellow cards
25/09/21: Burton Albion 1-2 Lincoln City (League One) – 3 yellow cards
02/10/21: Colchester United 0-2 Salford City (League Two) – 4 yellow cards and 1 red card
05/10/21: Cheltenham Town 2-2 Exeter City (EFL Trophy) – no cards
09/10/21: Mansfield Town 0-0 Oldham Athletic (League Two) – 5 yellow cards
19/10/21: Oxford United 2-0 Shrewsbury Town (League One) – no cards
26/10/21: Gillingham 0-2 West Ham United U21s (EFL Trophy) – 3 yellow cards
30/10/21: Portsmouth 1-0 Bolton Wanderers (League One) – no cards
02/11/21: Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 Sunderland (League One) – 2 yellow cards
23/11/21: AFC Wimbledon 3-2 Crewe Alexandra (League One) – 4 yellow cards and 1 red card
27/11/21: Lincoln City 0-1 Accrington Stanley (League One) – 4 yellow cards
30/11/21: Leyton Orient 0-0 Milton Keynes Dons (EFL Trophy) – 1 yellow card and 1 red card
04/12/21: Yeovil Town 1-0 Stevenage (FA Cup) – 3 yellow cards
07/12/21: Bristol Rovers 1-2 Port Vale (League Two) – 4 yellow cards and 2 red cards
18/12/21: Plymouth Argyle 1-0 Charlton Athletic (League One) – 2 yellow cards
15/01/22: Exeter City 2-0 Scunthorpe United (League Two) – 2 yellow cards
22/01/22: Forest Green Rovers 3-0 Carlisle United (League Two) – 3 yellow cards
29/01/22: Newport County 2-1 Barrow (League Two) – 6 yellow cards
01/02/22: Colchester United 1-1 Rochdale (League Two) – 2 yellow cards
08/02/22: Portsmouth 2-1 Burton Albion (League One) – 6 yellow cards
19/02/22: Doncaster Rovers 1-3 Sheffield Wednesday (League One) – 2 yellow cards
05/03/22: Gillingham 0-3 Bolton Wanderers (League One) – 2 yellow cards and 1 red card
08/03/22: Milton Keynes Dons 3-1 Cheltenham Town (League One) – 1 yellow card
12/03/22: Wycombe Wanderers 0-0 Rotherham United (League One) – 3 yellow cards
15/03/22: Stevenage 1-2 Northampton Town (League Two) – 2 yellow cards

TOTALS: Matches: 30 — Yellow Cards: 86 — Red Cards: 6

Craig Hicks was the man in the middle for 34 matches last season, showing 95 yellow cards and 4 red cards.

He was just a little card happy in the League One match between Burton Albion and Sunderland, which finished 3-0 to the visitors. He showed 8 yellow cards and 1 red card.

Hicks oversaw a total of 28 matches during the 2019/20 season, showing a total of 90 yellow cards and 4 red cards.

He showed 7 cards on two occasions: Peterborough United 3-0 Sunderland (5 yellow cards and 2 red cards) in League One and Cheltenham Town 2-1 Northampton Town (7 yellow cards, including former Imps Callum Morton and Scott Wharton) in League Two.

Hicks was in charge of 40 matches during the 2018/19 season when he showed a total of 114 yellow cards and 5 red cards.

He showed 7 cards on two occasions during the 2018/19 season, both of which were League One matches: Southend United 2-3 Doncaster Rovers (7 yellow cards, including one for current Imps player Tom Hopper) and Portsmouth 2-2 Wycombe Wanderers (7 yellow cards).

Sources: English Football League & Soccer Base.

Have a go at our Lincoln City versus Sunderland Quizzes, published last season (they were all correct at the time they were published). The first quiz can be found below, and the links to the other four can be found HERE: Quiz No.2, Quiz No.3 & Quiz No.4.

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