Phil SumblerThe referee for the first leg of the play offs on Monday evening is Tony Harrington who has become a familiar face in charge of the Swans this season.
He has 33 Championship appearances behind him this season, with 92 yellow cards and 5 reds being his card tally making him the most “prolific” referee in the Championship this time around.
4 of those 33 games were in charge of the Swans – he was the man in the middle for defeats to Huddersfield and Birmingham as well as wins over both Rotherham and Nottingham Forest whilst overall 7 of his 8 games in charge of the Swans have been away from the Liberty Stadium.
He has got himself on the wrong side of Steve Cooper before when he sent Jake Bidwell off towards the end of last season’s 0-0 draw at Ashton Gate with Cooper saying after the match “It’s a poor decision isn’t it. We don’t agree with it
“We’ve looked at it already on the broadcast visuals and on the wide angles. Looking at the position of it and how far out it is from goal and the actual tackle, don’t get me wrong, it’s a foul, it’s as yellow as they come, but to send him off is a bit of a weak decision, a weak mentality.”
The decision though was upheld after an appeal by the Swans.
Harrington began refereeing in the Teesside Junior Football Alliance at the age of 14, having completed a basic refereeing course whilst at school as part of the Duke of Edinburgh award.
After four years as an EFL assistant referee and four years as a National League referee, he was appointed to the EFL Referees List in 2012/13 and has now overseen more than 190 EFL matches.
Tony is the Grandson of Tommy McGuigan, who is in the Hartlepool United record books for top 10 number of appearances and goals for the club.
Harrington will be assisted by Shaun Hudson and Richard Wild whilst Geoff Eltringham is the fourth official.
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