Josh Smith to referee Salford home encounter

Josh Smith is the man in the middle for the Iron's Sky Bet League Two home clash against Salford City this weekend.

A Select Group Two match official, Smith was promoted to the Championship pool of officials ahead of the 2020-21 season, soon after taking charge of the League Two Play-Off Semi Final between Colchester United and Exeter City, the first game back in the EFL post COVID-19.

Smith started refereeing on the Peterborough and District Junior Alliance League aged 14 in 2006 following in the footsteps of both his dad and grandfather who had refereed football and rugby league respectively.

In 2015, he was promoted to the EFL Assistant Referee list completing three years on the list before opting to specialise as a referee. He then received successive promotions from the National League onto the EFL referees list and then to the Select Group 2 List of Referees.

His first match of this campaign, his third season as a referee in the EFL, he took charge of Mansfield Town's 2-1 home win over Bristol Rovers, issuing four yellows and one red card. His latest game was on November 6th as he officiated the Championship match between Blackpool and Queens Park Rangers which ended 1-1. Seven cautions were shown in the game.

The game will be his first in charge of the Iron, but he's refereed the Ammies on three past occasions, all of which in the 2019-20 season, issuing a total of eight yellow cards.

Last season, in 19 games, he showed 54 yellow cards and two reds. So for in this campaign, he's issued 57 yellow cards and two reds in 16 games.

On Saturday, he will be assisted by Jonathan Hunt and Sam Lewis, while Andy Haines has been appointed as the fourth official.

PAST SCUNTHORPE UNITED ENCOUNTERS

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PAST SALFORD CITY ENCOUNTERS

DATE	COMP	MATCH	Y	R
Jan 25, 2020	LG 2	Salford City 1-1 Oldham Athletic	4	0
Dec 7, 2019	LG 2	Colchester United 1-0 Salford City	3	0
Sep 7, 2019	LG 2	Morecambe 2-2 Salford City	1	0