Madley to referee Championship opener
- adamhigginsuk
- Aug 4, 2014
- 2 min read
Man in the middle: Madley will oversee proceedings at Ewood Park for the launch of the new Football League season (Picture from Zimbio.com)
REFEREE Andrew Madley will take charge of the opening match of the 2014-15 Football League season, it has been confirmed.
The 31-year-old will take charge of the SkyBet Championship clash between Blackburn and Cardiff at Ewood Park on Friday night.
He will be assisted by Steven Copeland and newly-promoted linesman Graeme Fyvie while Richard Clark (Northumberland) will perform fourth official duties.
Madley, from Wakefield in West Yorkshire, will be starting his fourth season on the Football League's National List and is highly rated among officiating circles.
His first ever league fixture came on the opening day of the 2011-12 season as he handled Morecambe against Barnet at the Globe Arena in the fourth tier.
Although mainly presiding in Leagues One and Two, he oversaw 13 Championship games last term among his 38 matches across all competitions - brandishing 110 yellows and four red cards in total.
Madley started out in his local divisions and began to progress through the supply lines from 2004 before becoming a Premier League linesman in 2009.
The high point of his career so far was running the line for the League One play-off final between Millwall and Swindon at Wembley in 2010.
Last season, Madley incurred the wrath of then Blackpool boss Paul Ince for his performance in their 1-0 Capital One Cup defeat by Lancashire rivals Preston at Deepdale.
He also mistakenly sent off Preston midfielder Neil Kilkenny in their 2-0 victory over Port Vale in November.
Madley's younger brother Robert, 29, officiates in the Premier League following his promotion to the Select Group during the 2012/13 campaign.
Blackburn narrowly missed out on a place in the Championship play-offs last term, finishing eighth, while Cardiff were relegated from the Premier League after one season in the top-flight.
The game will be shown live on Sky Sports 1 and HD1 with coverage starting at 19:30 BST.
? DID YOU KNOW ?
Madley has only refereed both sides once previously - taking charge of Blackburn's 1-0 home defeat by Nottingham Forest last term and Cardiff's 2-1 FA Cup loss to Macclesfield in 2013.
Last updated: 4 August 2014 19:11pm
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