RateTheRef

All live on Sky Sports+ unless stated

Saturday 2nd May 2026

Blackburn Rovers FC (First Team) v Leicester City FC (First Team)
Football League Championship   
Referee: Doughty, Leigh
Assistant Referee: Woodward, Richard
Assistant Referee: Massey-Ellis, Sian
Fourth Official: Webb, David

Bristol City (First Team) v Stoke City FC (First Team)
Football League Championship   
Referee: Toner, Ben
Assistant Referee: Brown, Conor
Assistant Referee: Lugg, Nigel
Fourth Official: Mather, Simon

Derby County FC (First Team) v Sheffield United FC (First Team)
Football League Championship   
Referee: Nield, Tom
Assistant Referee: Stevens, Mark
Assistant Referee: Graham, Jacob
Fourth Official: Whitestone, Dean

Hull City (First Team) v Norwich City FC (First Team)
Football League Championship   
Referee: Smith, Josh
Assistant Referee: Lewis, Sam
Assistant Referee: Hudson, Shaun
Fourth Official: Kitchen, Andrew

Ipswich Town F.C. (First Team) v Queens Park Rangers FC (First Team)  Live on Sky Sports Main Event
Football League Championship   
Referee: Ward, Gavin
Assistant Referee: James, Alex
Assistant Referee: Venamore, Lee
Fourth Official: Hallam, Farai

Millwall FC (First Team) v Oxford United (First Team). Live on Sky Sports Football
Football League Championship   
Referee: Backhouse, Anthony
Assistant Referee: Dallison, Andrew
Assistant Referee: Cooper, Ian
Fourth Official: Bell, James

Portsmouth FC (First Team) v Birmingham City F C (First Team)
Football League Championship   
Referee: Brooks, John
Assistant Referee: Bennett, Simon
Assistant Referee: Aspinall, Natalie
Fourth Official: Mackey, Oliver

Preston North End FC (First Team) v Southampton FC (First Team)
Football League Championship   
Referee: Martin, Stephen
Assistant Referee: Byrne, George
Assistant Referee: McGrath, Matthew
Fourth Official: Drysdale, Darren

Sheffield Wednesday FC (First Team) v West Bromwich Albion FC (First Team)
Football League Championship   
Referee: Smith, Lewis
Assistant Referee: Leach, Daniel
Assistant Referee: Hyde, Robert
Fourth Official: Swallow, Elliott

Swansea City FC (First Team) v Charlton Athletic FC (First Team)
Football League Championship   
Referee: Finnie, Will
Assistant Referee: Nelson, Alistair
Assistant Referee: Hopton, Nick
Fourth Official: Martin, Ross

Watford FC (First Team) v Coventry City FC (First Team)
Football League Championship   
Referee: Ricardo, Ruebyn
Assistant Referee: Smith, Matthew
Assistant Referee: Kane, Graham
Fourth Official: Hicks, Craig

Wrexham FC (First Team) v MIDDLESBROUGH (First Team)
Football League Championship   
Referee: Langford, Oliver
Assistant Referee: Carney, Emily
Assistant Referee: Fox, Andrew
Fourth Official: Kirk, Thomas

Very suprised to have SG1 John Brooks at Fratton Park for a complete dead rubber game, compared to some of the other games and the significance of them.

Derby only had Tom Nield 3rd April … 3 games ago but not surprised, can’t remember last time we had a SG1 for a home game

Gavin ward on a key game  again, someone somewere clearly has no idea on how awful.he is

Gavin ward on a key game  again, someone somewere clearly has no idea on how awful.he is

To be totally fair to Mr Ward, I have seen him twice on key live TV games this season (Millwall vs Charlton and Sheffield Utd vs Middlesbrough) and I thought he was very good on both occasions. Like all referees at this level, he is prone to a bad game but more often than not he’s a very safe official.

I am surprised to see him at Portman Road on Saturday but that’s not to say I’m disappointed.

I wonder if Macho man would have had the Southampton game had they beaten Ipswich?

Just realised, although Nick Hopton is returning from injury, it will be a great chance to pass on some experience, knowledge and tips to Finnie and Nelson, both who have been pushed and look likely to be promoted (SG2/SG1 respectively).