Howdy Dowdy

Phil Dowd began refereeing in local leagues in 1984, eventually officiating in the Staffordshire Senior League and Midland Football Alliance. In 1992 he was appointed to the Football League assistant referees list in 1992, before joining the League's full list of referees five years later in 1997, aged 34.

He was promoted to the Premier League list in 2001, and is now in his 8th year as a Select Group Referee His first Premier League game was a 2-0 victory for Fulham over Everton on 8 December 2001 with Hayles scoring a brace. It was an eventful match as seven were booked and both sides reduced to ten men with the dismissals for Boa Morte for Fulham and Weir for Everton,

Phil Dowd was the fourth official at the 2006 FA Cup Final.

This season he has refereed 40 matches and has produced 134 yellow and 6 red cards. Two of those red cards came a month ago when he reduced Manchester United to nine men with the dismissals of Scholes and Rooney, as Fulham won 2-0 at Craven Cottage.

His last game was a Premier League match on 18 April as Portsmouth beat Bolton 1-0, producing 6 yellow cards.

His assistants for the televised game are Andy Halliday from London and Jeremy Simpson from Lancashire. The fourth official is Darren Deadman from Cambridgeshire, who took charge of Lilywhites goal less draw at Charlton on 21 March.

Phil Dowd and Preston (Since 1998/99)