Stroud to referee East Anglian derby
- adamhigginsuk
- Aug 19, 2014
- 2 min read
REFEREE Keith Stroud will be the man in the middle for the East Anglian derby between Ipswich Town and Norwich City on Saturday.
The 45-year-old from Hampshire is charged with keeping the peace as the two "Old Farm" rivals meet for the first time since April 2011 at Portman Road in the early kick-off.
He will be assisted by Ian Fissenden (Kent) and Gavin Muge (Bedfordshire) while the fourth official will be Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire).
Before that, Stroud will take control of the League One clash between Crewe Alexandra and Rochdale on Tuesday night.
He has only refereed one game so far this season - Peterborough's 3-2 win over MK Dons in the third tier last Saturday.
Dorset-based Stroud is one of the most experienced officials in the Football League - regularly officiating in the Championship - and spent two years in the Premier League earlier in his career before being demoted in 2009.
Although first taking up the whistle in 1988, Stroud became a Fifa-listed assistant referee in 2004, the same year he was promoted to the National List of referees, but gave it up when joining the Select Group as a referee for the 2007/08 season.
Last season, he brandished 168 yellows and seven red cards, while awarding seven penalties, in 38 games across numerous competitions.
He began with the season opener between Sheffield United and Notts County at the start of the Football League's 125th anniversary year and ended the campaign with the League One play-off semi-final second leg as Rotherham beat Preston at the New York Stadium.
The most high-profile appointment for the Bournemouth-born whistler came in the League Two play-off final in May 2013 as Bradford ran out 3-0 winners over Northampton at Wembley.
Stroud, however, is likely to be among the contenders to handle this season's Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final.
Play-off hopefuls Ipswich beat Fulham on the opening weekend before losing 1-0 to Reading while relegated Norwich have also won one and lost one, against Wolves and Watford respectively.
The eagerly awaited encounter will be shown live on Sky Sports as part of their FL72 coverage, with kick-off at 12:15 BST.
Last updated: 19 August 2014 10:45am
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