The man in charge of the npower Championship match between Peterborough United and Blackpool is MARK HAYWARD.
Married with four daughters, Haywood began refereeing in 1993 in West Yorkshire, and rose through the West Yorkshire and Northern Premier Leagues to reach the national list of assistant referees in 2002.
Haywood was promoted into the national list of referees in 2006 and he has since refereed both the FA Vase and FA Trophy Quarter-Finals, and the 2010 Unibond League Final.
He decided to become a referee after being challenged by a work colleague who was already a match official and afterwards said: ‘I took the course and learnt more in six weeks than I had seen in 28 years as a fan.’.
Hayward last took charge of a Posh match in December 2010 when Posh beat Rochdale 2-1 in League One. No cards were issued by the official. Haywood did referee a Posh game during their last disastrous Championship campaign going down 3-2 at home to Newcastle United. Three yellow cards were issued on that occasion – one to Gaby Zakuani with the other two to Newcastle players.
Blackpool have had the pleasure of Mr Haywood twice this season. The first game they lost 1-0 at home to Derby just three days after beating Posh in August, while the second Blackpool game officiated by Haywood this season ended in a 0-0 draw at home to Watford in December. He issued just 2 yellow cards in each game.
So far this season, Haywood has refereed 32 games and has issued 83 yellow cards and no red cards. Of the 32 games, 10 were Championship games.
Peterborough United v Blackpool
Location: London Road
Date: 10th March, 2012
Kick-off: 3pm
Referee
Mark Hayward
Assistants
Mathew Buonassisi
Geoff Law
Fourth official
Geoffrey Russell
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Photo courtesy of The Football League.
