David Foster will be the man in the middle for Friday’s trip to Morecambe.
The experienced Foster, however, won’t be in the good books of Crewe.
The last time he refereed a game of our’s he sent off both Billy Jones and Patrick Ada. Both saw red in the final minutes of the home game against Bury in October for professional fouls; they remain Foster’s only red cards in 22 games this season.
His record doesn’t improve either. Prior to the Bury game he was referee for Doncaster’s visit to Gresty Road in December 2007. Two yellow cards led to a red for Gary Roberts with just 10 minutes remaining, not that it had any effect on the 4-0 scoreline.
In his first Crewe game as ref back in 2006 he also sent off Eugen Bopp, who was then playing for Rotherham. That, again, had no effect on the scoreline as it ended 5-1 to Rotherham.
Thankfully there were a couple of Crewe games that season where he didn’t brandish the red card; a 2-1 victory at Huddersfield in February 2007 and a 2-1 defeat at Chesterfield.
Friday’s opponents Morecambe have had an easier time with Foster. Over the years he has refereed five of their matches without a single red card being shown, including a Conference play-off semi-final in which Morecambe lost on penalties.
Foster’s profile states that the Geordie enjoys ‘computing, digital photography and playing on his Xbox 360’. And the best referee in his opinion? Himself.
He will be assisted by Paul Davison and Kevin Mattocks. The fourth official will be Paul Kettlewell.
So, we could be in for a bit of ‘drama’ for the third week running. Excellent.
Monday’s referee for the home game against Cheltenham has a slightly less exciting record. Andy Haines was ref for the same fixture last season, in which the Alex lost 2-1, and he didn’t even book a player of ours. He was also referee for games against Northampton last season and the season before and was man in the middle for a visit from Southend in April 2008.
In all, Haines has only booked one Alex player in Michael O’Connor. Does this guy not realise his job is to be controversial?
Haines will be assisted by Nicholas Greenhalgh and Ken Haycock. Daniel Meeson will be fourth official.
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