Portsmouth v Middlesbrough
Fratton Park – The Premiership
Tuesday 30th January 2007 – 7.45 p.m.
A change to the original selection, Oxfordshire`s Dermot Gallagher will be the man in the centre for tonight`s match at Fratton Park for the match between Portsmouth and Middlesbrough.
In fact, there have been wholesale changes to the Match Official Team for this match. Kenny Hibbitt (Match Delegate), Lee Mason (Referee), Phil Sharp (Assistant Referee) and Clive Penton (4th Official) have all been replaced for this Premiership fixture.
Dermot Gallagher is no stranger to Portsmouth fans and is not exactly at the top of their Christmas card list. His most recent and well publicised controversial issue that has upset the Fratton faithful was his questionable decision to merely book Ben Thatcher for that incident involving Pedro Mendes. His actions throughout that particular match led him to being removed from the next Premiership fixture and instead found himself officiating at Championship level whilst investigations were carried out over the incident by the FA.
Until tonight, Mr. Gallagher has not officiated in a match involving Pompey since that dreadful evening in Manchester. He is currently sitting in tenth spot in the Referee`s Performance Table after eight matches; during those fixtures he has brandished his yellow card some twenty-one times, showing the red a mere three.
Dermot started on his path to becoming a professional referee back in 1978 in local league matches at Banbury. His progression saw him move up to the Southern League in 1983 before becoming a linesman in the Football League in 1985. He eventually reached the standards required to become an FA Premier League Referee in 1992, capped by his selection as a FIFA referee in 1994.
Referee:
Dermot Gallagher (Oxfordshire)
Referee`s Assistants:
Red/Yellow Flag: Michael Bull (Essex)
Yellow Flag: John Holbrook (West Midlands)
4th Official:
Keith Hill (Hertfordshire)
Match Delegate:
John Morton
PGMO:
Paul Durkin
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