Referee Watch – Tony Bates

Barring any late changes, Tony Bates of Staffordshire will be in the middle for Blues’ game against Leicester City at St Andrews on Saturday. Here is a look at his stats.

Season Performance

Mr Bates has officiated in seven games so far this season, and has shown twenty yellow cards and no reds. Of those seven games four have come in the Championship and have yielded sixteen yellow cards. Last season Mr Bates officiated in forty games, showing ninety-eight yellow cards and sending off two players. Of those forty games nineteen were in the Championship and in those games he handed out fifty-three bookings and one red card.

Last Blues Game Refereed

The last Blues game that Mr Bates was in charge of was the 1-0 win over Coventry at the start of last season. In that game, Mr Bates only showed one yellow card – to David Bell of Coventry City. Colin Tattum is quite glowing in his praise of Mr Bates in his match report, saying that he was “always on top of things and showed sense“.

Last Championship Game Refereed

The last game in this division that Mr Bates was in the middle for was the match between Blackpool and Huddersfield which finished 3-1 to the away side. Four yellow cards were handed out – to Stephen Crainey of Blackpool and to Paul Dixon, Oliver Norwood and James Vaughan of Huddersfield Town. The ref isn’t mentioned in the Blackpool Gazette match report or the Huddersfield Daily Examiner match report which I take as a positive.

All stats from Soccerbase