Bristol City handed referee who sparked infamous 'astounding' and 'overexcited' outburst in past defeat
The match officials for Bristol City’s clash with Birmingham City have been announced
Successive wins have propelled Bristol City back up into the play-off places as the Robins make up one part of a current Championship top six which does not involve any parachute payments, something which is beginning to gain traction on social media in recent days.
The Championship has proven to fans just why it is such an entertaining and unpredictable division so far this season, and it can be argued that Bristol City have as good a chance of going up as any if things remain as they are. Their 3-1 win over pre-season favourites Southampton in midweek was a perfect demonstration of this.
Gerhard Struber’s side, fourth in the league with 19 points, face Birmingham City on Saturday and will look to strengthen their place within the top six ahead of a busy winter period. Birmingham won at Preston North End last time out to rise to 13th, but are just four points behind the Robins as this division truly can change at the blink of an eye.
Refereeing appointments announced for Bristol City vs Birmingham clash
The EFL have announced their officiating appointments for the Championship’s match day 12 fixtures on their website, with the appointment for Bristol City’s fixture evoking memories of an unforgettable incident back in 2019.
James Linington has been revealed as the referee for the encounter, with Conor Brown and David Harrison as his assistants and the fourth official being Jamie O'Connor.
The appointment of Linington will remind Robins fans of a fateful day back in 2019, when striker Famara Diedhiou was sent off by the Englishman for kicking out three times at Charlton Athletic defender Jason Pearce.
As the Addicks captain protected the ball, Diedhiou repeatedly attempted to kick it out from under him, catching the player in the process. The third kick was thought to be ‘particularly violent’, reported The Sun at the time, as Diedhiou connected with the defender’s lower back. A mass brawl broke out as a result, as both sets of players ran in to get involved in a ‘monumental shoving match’.
When things began to calm down, referee Linington showed Diedhiou a straight red card, and the Robins frontman was left looking ‘shocked’ at his dismissal.
Former Bristol City manager Lee Johnson had his say about infamous incident
Bristol City’s manager at the time, Lee Johnson was bemused at the decision and expressed his frustration at the officials at the final whistle.
Johnson said: “I’d like to see it again, at the time I didn’t feel that it was a sending off because the ball was there to be won. The third attempt to play the ball is probably on the referee’s whistle which is why it made it look worse. But obviously when the lad’s rolling on the ball and he just fouled Famara that hasn’t been given, it’s there to be won.
“Yes, he’s 100 per cent going for the ball but obviously the player is jumping and diving across it both ways. He’s tried to poke two and then the third one he’s seen the ball and then the lad’s dived across it. Obviously that makes it look worse but the communication between the three officials was astounding really.
“How they’ve got to that from the ref saying no, he went to speak to the linesman who said no and then the fourth official for some reason has decided with the worst angle of the lot of them to give the red. And that was the first thing that he piped up with all day. I can hear him, I spoke to the assistant, he said he didn’t give it, the referee went to ask the assistant what he had seen and he said nothing. It’s a yellow or whatever and then the fourth official going ‘red, red, red’ down the mic, all overexcited.”