Accomplished referee Matthew Russell will take charge of Bristol Rovers’ Sky Bet League Two fixture against Chesterfield at The Memorial Stadium.
Starting his refereeing career in National League fixtures in the 2019/20 season, he has now made 179 total appearances across all competitions, having refereed two of Rovers’ games last year against Exeter City and Northampton Town. Overall, he has overseen four games for the Gas, with his most recent coming this season when the Pirates beat Cheltenham Town 1-0 in the Vertu Trophy.
Russell has refereed six Chesterfield fixtures, with the Spireites staying unbeaten in that time, all in the National League.
The most recent clash that he oversaw was between Exeter and Luton Town in Sky Bet League One, with Grecians’ defender Pierce Sweeney netting the only goal of the match at St James Park. This season, he has been the man in the middle for 20 fixtures across six different competitions.
He also has lots of experience refereeing Premier League 2 matches, overseeing matches that included future Premier League regulars such as Bukayo Saka, Jeremie Frimpong and Curtis Jones.
He will be joined by Sean Rothwell and Steve Durnall as assistant referees, as well as David Middleton as the fourth official.
