Ref Watch - Pompey v Manchester City

Portsmouth v Manchester City (5.15pm)
(Live on Sky PremPlus)

The referee appointed for this crucial match at Fratton Park on Saturday will be Mr. Chris Foy from Merseyside.

Chris is well liked in the Premiership by players and supporters. He adopts reason when and where necessary and does uses his cards only as a last resort. A few Pompey fans will of course still be a little troubled by the way he was easily duped when Spurs` Didier Zokora blatantly dived in the penalty area after falling over when he went past Pedro Mendes. Mr. Foy immediately pointed to the spot, which was then converted and proved to be the winner. To his credit, Mr. Foy did review the video of the incident and apologised to Harry Redknapp for his error.

But it has to be remembered that he has officiated in two other matches involving Pompey this season and on both occasions saw them win. The first was the fine 4-0 away win at Middlesbrough and the second was the hard battled 2-1 win over Watford at Fratton Park. Only Thompson and Svetoslav Todorov have made their way into his notebook so far this season. Manchester City have also had Chris officiate in two of their matches with equally mixed outcomes. The first was a 2-0 home win over Wigan Athletic followed by a 2-1 defeat at Charlton Athletic.

The most Chris has booked in any one match this season is five, which was a hotly contested match between Middlesbrough and City`s counterparts United. Overall this season, Chris has booked thirty two players and dismissed just one whilst officiating in fourteen matches. This has placed him in 15th place in the Referees Table.

Chris started his career at local league level in 1983, became a linesman for the Football League in 1994 and a year later, he was selected as a linesman for the Premier League. He took charge of his first Football League match in 1996 before moving up to referee in the Premier League in 2001. He was the fourth official in the 2001 FA Trophy final and the fourth official in the 2006 Championship Play Off final.

Chris lists his hobbies and interests as training, watching sport and spending time with his family.


The Match Official Team:

Referee: Chris Foy (Merseyside)

Referee Assistants:
Red/Yellow flag: Roger East (Wiltshire)
Yellow flag: Peter Kirkup (Northamptonshire)
4th Official: Pat Miller (Bedfordshire)


Match Delegate: Geoff Mackrell
PGMO: Derek Hedges

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