The referees for our next few games have been announced:
Coca Cola League Championship
Gillingham vs Sunderland – Sat 11 September
Referee: Andy Hall (W/Mids)
Asst Refs: Darren Deadman (Cambs) and Graham Horwood (Beds)
Mr Hall was the man in the middle for our 2-0 home league defeat of Watford last August, with only Sean Thornton for Sunderland going in his notebook. That day, Marcus Stewart scored from the spot after 40 minutes, when Mr Hall adjudged that Paul Thirlwell had been brought down in the area by Marcus Gale, but it was a controversial decision; Stephen Wright scored the second after 60 minutes.
Coca Cola League Championship
Sunderland vs Nottingham Forest – Tue 14 September
Referee: Lee Mason (Lancs)
Asst Refs: Paul Nicholson (Co Durham) and George Simpson (N/Yorks)
Mr Mason reffed two games involving Sunderland last season – our 3-0 home league defeat of Bradford on Boxing Day and our 1-0 away league loss to Ipswich in April. The Bradford game saw George McCartney and Stephen Wright get yellow cards and the Ipswich game saw Gary Breen, Stephen Byfield and Jason McAteer get yellows; Ipswich’s single goal was a penalty in first half stoppage time from Easington-born Tommy Miller.
