Mick
The Ref Aficionado.
It seems somewhat irrelevant at the moment, but here goes anyway.
We have had comfortably the better of league matches with Aldershot over the years having played them 84 times, winning 34, drawing 23 and losing 27. Despite this supremacy, our recent record has been poor. In the last 30 years we’ve played them 10 times. We’ve lost 7, won 1 and drawn 2 scoring just 7 goals. Our best season against them was probably 1989/90 when we beat them 5-0 at home and also 5-0 away.
Plenty of history with the opposition but none at all with the referee, David McNamara. No cushy jobs-for-the-boys County FA role for him! He is a Chief Petty Officer in the Royal Navy and is currently a Submarine Warfare Training Instructor having previously been a Warfare Specialist on HMS Vanguard, an Electronic Warfare Analyst for the RAF and an Operations Manager on an active nuclear submarine.
This is his first season in the National League and his five games thus far have seen 24 yellows and no reds.
His advancement in the refereeing world was not helped when 5 seasons ago taking charge of a Womans Super League match he found himself without a coin. Rather than returning or going to the touchline to collect one, he had the two captains - one of them was Steph Houghton, captain of Man City and England - decide their ends and who would take kick-off with the playground game rock, paper, scissors. He was suspended for 21 days by the humourless FA (whereas the Royal Navy FA presented him with a commemorative coin!).
Assisting will be Daniel D'Urso, son of the former Premier League referee Andy D'Urso from Billericay. He attended Westcliff High School for 5 years and now lives in Southwater, West Sussex. The other Assistant is Peter Lowe, a fund manager working in private equity funds from Portsmouth.
Fourth Official is Harrison Blair, a Business Protection Advisor from Woking.
We have had comfortably the better of league matches with Aldershot over the years having played them 84 times, winning 34, drawing 23 and losing 27. Despite this supremacy, our recent record has been poor. In the last 30 years we’ve played them 10 times. We’ve lost 7, won 1 and drawn 2 scoring just 7 goals. Our best season against them was probably 1989/90 when we beat them 5-0 at home and also 5-0 away.
Plenty of history with the opposition but none at all with the referee, David McNamara. No cushy jobs-for-the-boys County FA role for him! He is a Chief Petty Officer in the Royal Navy and is currently a Submarine Warfare Training Instructor having previously been a Warfare Specialist on HMS Vanguard, an Electronic Warfare Analyst for the RAF and an Operations Manager on an active nuclear submarine.
This is his first season in the National League and his five games thus far have seen 24 yellows and no reds.
His advancement in the refereeing world was not helped when 5 seasons ago taking charge of a Womans Super League match he found himself without a coin. Rather than returning or going to the touchline to collect one, he had the two captains - one of them was Steph Houghton, captain of Man City and England - decide their ends and who would take kick-off with the playground game rock, paper, scissors. He was suspended for 21 days by the humourless FA (whereas the Royal Navy FA presented him with a commemorative coin!).
Assisting will be Daniel D'Urso, son of the former Premier League referee Andy D'Urso from Billericay. He attended Westcliff High School for 5 years and now lives in Southwater, West Sussex. The other Assistant is Peter Lowe, a fund manager working in private equity funds from Portsmouth.
Fourth Official is Harrison Blair, a Business Protection Advisor from Woking.
