On Saturday the match official is one of the most familiar faces in terms of referees for North End fans.
Not only did he take charge of five of our games last season, but he also refereed the Play-Off Final win at Wembley in 2015 and our last encounter with local rivals Blackpool – when Tom Clarke wrote his name in PNE folklore – it is of course Andy Madley.
Last season he was the referee away at Queens Park Rangers, in both games we played at St James’ Park, Newcastle, the away game at Aston Villa in January and the 5-0 home thrashing of Bristol City in April.
He also had the whistle for three PNE games in 2014/15, including the win at Wembley, having been the referee in the first league win of the season, the 4-0 triumph at Scunthorpe United back in August of 2014 and then the live TV game against Fleetwood Town at Highbury in March 2015.
Mr Madley, as mentioned, was also in charge of our now memorable League Cup win over Blackpool in 2013/14 and then at Port Vale when North End won 2-0 with ten men.
This year he has so far officiated 15 games, issuing 39 cautions, and this is his second game in the middle for both Ipswich and the Lilywhites, having been in charge of our 1-0 home win over Reading and the Tractor Boys’ 2-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers at Portman Road.
He will be assisted on Saturday by Neil Davies and Nigel Lugg and the fourth official will be Darren Blunden.