Meet The Ref - Stoke v Latics - Michael Oliver

The Stoke City v Wigan Athletic Premier League clash at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday (New Year's Eve) will be refereed by the Premier Leagues youngest official, Michael Oliver.

This will be Oliver's second Latics game in ten days and his third this season, having been the 'man in the middle' for our 0-0 draw with Liverpool on the 21st of December and the 2-0 win over QPR back in August

For those who missed the 'Meet The Ref' article prior to the Liverpool game, there is a repeat below:

The Northumberland born whistle blower took charge of his first Premier League game in August last year when he refereed the Birmingham v Blackburn early season fixture.

According to a recent interview on refworld.com, Oliver considers the skills needed to be a top class referee are man management and awareness, all sounds very 'The Apprentice' to me, let's hope he is aware and manages to have a good game on Saturday, well he couldn`t be any worse than Phil Dowd, could he?

Below is an excerpt from that interview:

How did you get introduced to refereeing?

From watching my dad referee locally when I was younger (i.e. 14)

What skills do you think you need to become a referee?

The two main ones I believe are: Man-Management and awareness

Who has been the biggest influence in your career and why?

My Dad, Clive. Perfect coach to have having refereed at the same level. Willing to listen and lend a hand, but not afraid to tell it like it is.

In your opinion who is/was the best referee?

Pierluigi Collina - He had a presence.

Michael Oliver Card Watch 2011/12

Games - 14
Yellows - 39
Reds - 2

Stoke City v Wigan Athletic (3pm)
Referee: M Oliver
Assistants: D Cann, W Smallwood
Fourth Official: S Mathieson
Match Delegate: J Duncan
PGMO: S Lodge

















Latics and Proud



Fancy writing an article about the Latics? Why not get in touch, we are always looking for new contributors, after all we are all Latics fans here and want to get the Latics message to the world, so if you have a favourite match or Latics memory get it jotted down, or whatever you want to say put it into an email and send it to us here at Vital Wigan

To get your article published just click here and we will put it onto the site

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.