James Bell to referee Crawley Town away clash

James Bell will be the man in the middle for the Iron's away Sky Bet League Two encounter against Crawley Town on Saturday.

The Sheffield and Hallamshire-based official will travel to the People's Pension Stadium for his 34th game of the season and his 11th in Sky Bet League Two. The current campaign is his second in the EFL as the man in the middle.

His first game of the campaign was the League Two encounter between Forest Green Rovers and Sutton United on the opening day which resulted in a 2-1 home win in which he issued three cautions. Meanwhile, his latest match was Harrogate Town's 3-1 away win at Bradford City on February 22nd.

Bell will take charge of the Iron in the league for the second time, and third time overall, with both previous games coming at the Sands Venue Stadium. He was the man overseeing last season's FA Cup exit against Solihull Moors. Three yellow cards were issued in that game, with two of those combining to make a red for then-on-loan defender Tyler Cordner, while five cautions were shown in the league win over Port Vale - Jai Rowe and Jem Karacan the two Scunthorpe players penalised.

Saturday will be Bell's second trip to Crawley having last journeyed there in October 2020. He issued one yellow and one red on the day, both going to home players, although the side did still manage to beat the eventual runners-up Cambridge United. 

In 2020-21, he took charge of 31 games, issuing 85 yellow cards and nine reds, while so far this season, in 33 games, he's shown 104 yellow cards and three reds. All three dismissals came in a five-game spell and have all come in 2022.

On Saturday, he will be assisted by Conor Farrell and Adrian Tranter, while Louis Marks has been appointed as the fourth official.

PAST SCUNTHORPE UNITED ENCOUNTERS

DATE	COMP	MATCH	Y	R
Jan 26, 2021	LG 2	Iron 2-0 Port Vale	5	0
Nov 8, 2020	FAC	Iron 2-3 Solihull Moors	2	1

PAST CRAWLEY TOWN ENCOUNTERS

DATE	COMP	MATCH	Y	R
Dec 7, 2021	LG 2	Walsall 1-1 Crawley Town	4	0
Oct 31, 2020	LG 2	Crawley Town 2-1 Cambridge United	1	1