Tameside referee set for TV outing

A referee who hails from Tameside will take charge of his first SkyBet Championship match in front of the live TV cameras this weekend.

Matt Donohue left his job as a teacher at Greswell Primary School in Denton during the summer to pursue his refereeing dream, after gaining a place in the Select Group 2 - a full-time position which allows him to officiate matches in the SkyBet Championship. 

The 31-year-old will be the man in the middle for Wigan Athletic's match against Nottingham Forest on Sunday (20 October), which will be screened live by Sky Sports. 

The visitors Forest are second in the table and vying for promotion, so there is a lot riding on it. Meanwhile, hosts Wigan sit 19th in the table with 11 points from as many league games.

Donohue, who started refereeing at the age of 14, has shown 42 yellow cards and awarded two penalties in 11 matches in all competitions so far in 2019/20 but he is yet to issue a red card. 

He has already handled two matches involving Premier League teams this term in the Carabao Cup - Brighton's 2-1 win at Bristol Rovers in the second round and Leicester's 4-0 victory at Luton in round three. 

This weekend's match will kick off at 2pm and will be shown live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Main Event. 

We wish Matt well in the spotlight on Sunday!