Barring any late changes, Simon Hooper of Wiltshire will be in the middle for Blues’ Championship game against Derby County at St Andrews today. Here is a look at his stats.

Season Performance

Mr Hooper has been in charge of twenty-nine games so far this season, showing seventy-nine yellow cards and four reds. Of those games, thirteen have been in the Championship and in those games Mr Hooper has handed out forty-seven cautions and sent off three players.

Last Blues Game Refereed

The last Blues game Mr Hooper officiated in was the 3-1 defeat to Bolton Wanderers on December 29. In that game Mr Hooper showed four yellow cards and one red, booking Chung Yong Lee of Bolton and Steven Caldwell and Hayden Mullins of Blues as well as showing two yellows in quick succession to give Nikola Zigic an early bath. Colin Tattum’s Birmingham Mail report was critical of the penalty awarded against Blues by Mr Hooper but confirmed Zigic had no one to blame but himself.

Last Championship Game Refereed

The last game at this level refereed by Mr Hooper was the 1-0 away win for Burnley against Charlton Athletic at The Valley on March 2. In that game Mr Hooper handed out four yellow cards, all to Burnley players – Daniel Lafferty, Martin Paterson, Charlie Austin and Sam Vokes. Mr Hooper doesn’t merit a mention in the South London Press but his performance was lambasted by Sean Dyche in the Lancashire Telegraph.

All stats via Soccerbase

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