Lancashire referee Darren Bond takes charge of his first North End game of the season when the Lilywhites entertain Paul Clement’s Reading this weekend.
Last season Darren took charge of three PNE games. He was the match official in the club’s home draw against Millwall in September, our 2-1 win at Bristol City back in November 2017 and the 2-0 victory over Sunderland up at the Stadium of Light in March.
He also officiated three Reading games last season, two at the Madejski Stadium, a win over Barnsley and a defeat to Brentford and the Royals 3-0 defeat in March at Aston Villa.
This will be his seventh game of this season, having issued 21 yellow cards and two reds in the six games so far refereed, his last being Peterborough United’s 1-1 home draw with Doncaster Rovers on 1st September.
Although he had done numerous friendlies and other games involving Preston North End, the 2016/17 season was the first time the experienced official took charge of competitive fixtures involving the club, as he refereed the two home 1-1 draws with Burton Albion and Nottingham Forest.
The referee will be assisted by Mark Jones and Nick Hopton, with David Webb as the fourth official.