Meet the Ref – Bristol City

Friday, 20 August 2021, 9:30
1 min read

Geoff Eltringham will take charge of the Swans fixture at Bristol City tonight as we come face to face with the referee for the first time this season.

He first up the whistle at the age of 15 and progressed through the ranks before being appointed to the National list of referees for 2009/10.

Geoff last season completed his 4th year as a SG2 referee and he aims to build both actively as a referee whilst continuing his role as a FA Core coach and Durham FA academy director.

He has refereed over 400 games in the EFL, with his first a 2-2 draw between Morecambe and Hereford.

Eltringham has the unfortunate disposition of being a Sunderland fan which was so bad that he even turned to refereeing so he could give up his season ticket at the Stadium of Light.

โ€œIt was hard,โ€ Geoff recalled. โ€œAt the time, I was devastated. Yet only in the short term, really. It was the best decision Iโ€™ve ever made and Iโ€™ve never regretted it for one minute. I hadnโ€™t been taking refereeing that seriously over the first few years but that had all changed.

โ€œI was refereeing a park match and an assessor, Malcolm Langley, turned up to watch a different game. He watched a bit of my match as well and, when we got chatting afterwards, he said that maybe I should go for promotion. He set me on my way and weโ€™ve become very good friends.โ€

Eltringham will be assisted by Nick Greenhalgh and Shaun Hudson whilst Matthew Donohue is the fourth official.

Images courtesy of Getty Images, Athena Picture Agency and Swansea City Football Club.

Phil Sumbler

Been watching the Swans since the very late 1970s and running the Planet Swans website (in all its current and previous guises since the summer of 2001 As it stood JackArmy.net was right at the forefront of some of the activity against Tony Petty back in 2001, breaking many of the stories of the day as fans stood against the actions where the local media failed. Was involved with the Swans Supporters Trust from 2005, for the large part as Chairman before standing down in the summer of 2020.

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