Bridging the Gap

Rob Shoebridge started refereeing when he was 13 years of age and progressed through the Central Midlands and Northern Premier Leagues to reach the National List of assistant referees in 2003. Was an assistant referee on the 2006 FA Youth Cup Final, and refereed England v Turkey at U19 level in 2006.

He joined the National List of Referees for the 2006/07 season and took charge of his first Coca-Cola league match on 8 August 2006 between Walsall and Stockport.

The following season he officiated in his first Championship game on 25 August 2007 between Cardiff and Coventry.

Referring Record:

Season:	Matches:	Yellow Cards:	Red Cards:
2009/10	9	28	0
2008/09	34	65	4
2007/08	34	64	0
2006/07	25	80	2

This will be his third time he has taken charge of a Lilywhites match; his last Owls' game was on 18 April 2009 when a Luke Varney brace helped Wednesday beat Southampton 2-0.

But the official caused controversy in August when he disallowed a perfectly good goal for Freddie Sears of Crystal Palace in their match against Bristol City. The ball clearly hit the back of the net but the referee believed it had gone wide. Although this led to Rob Shoebridge being withdrawn from referring for his next scheduled game he has since taken charge of six league matches including two in the Championship.

Rob Shoebridge and PNE

Date:	Match:	PNE Goalscorer:	Cards:	PNE Cards:
14/02/09	PNE 1 Norwich 0	Parkin	3Y	McKenna
22/12/07	Southampton 0 PNE 1	Neal	Nil	Nil

The assistants on Tuesday are Mark Astley from Manchester and Paul Davidson from Cleveland. The fourth official is James Adcock from Nottinghamshire.

Bridging the Gap

Last updated : 18 October 2009 By @pnemad