Darren Bond will take charge of a Lilywhites game for the first time since the Boxing Day draw with Leeds United, when he referee’s Saturday’s trip to another West Yorkshire side in Huddersfield Town.
Prior to the clash with the Peacocks, Darren had not taken charge of a North End game since 1st February 2019, when the game with Derby County ended goalless at Deepdale.
This will also be the Lancashire referee’s second Terriers clash of the season, having officiated their 2-2 draw with Blackburn in the first half of the season, but this is his first trip to the John Smith’s Stadium in 2019/20.
Last season, the Derby game was his second PNE game of the 2018/19 campaign, his first being the home clash with Reading back in mid-September.
The previous year 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.
This will be his 29th game of this season, having issued 98 yellow cards and two reds in the 28 games so far refereed, his last being Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 home win over Bristol City on Wednesday night.
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 Steven Meredith and Nick Greenhalgh, with experienced referee Andy Haines as the fourth official.