Taking charge of his fifth Lilywhites game of the season, Geoff Eltringham will be the referee for our Saturday afternoon clash with Daniel Farke’s Norwich City at Deepdale.
Having officiated our early season game at Derby County, Geoff also took charge of the Boxing Day trip to Barnsley and our January win at Nottingham Forest and then last month’s victory over Bristol City here at Deepdale.
He also refereed one North End game last season, the home clash with our Barnsley, having also done one the previous season, the 1-0 home win over Reading.
The year prior to that he took charge of three PNE games, including the 2-0 home win over Peterborough United in March. The previous season he also took charge of North End twice, both of those at Deepdale - the 1-1 draw with Tranmere Rovers back in November 2013 and then the goalless draw with Sheffield United in March.
The County Durham official is an experienced referee who had taken charge of North End a number of times in the past including the very first game after the departure of Graham Westley, when John Dreyer took the team against an in-form Bournemouth side and ran out 2-0 winners.
He also looked after a thriller back in 2010, when North End overcame Crystal Palace 4-3 at Deepdale.
This will be the match official’s second Canaries game of the season, having refereed their 3-2 EFL Cup first round victory over Swindon Town at Carrow Road back in August. In his 33 games so far, he has issued 119 cautions and three red cards.
For the game, the referee will be assisted by Billy Smallwood and Philip Dermott, whilst Ross Joyce will act as the fourth official.