Man in the Middle: James Linington
6th August
First team
James Linington will referee Swansea City's opening home game of the season against Preston North End this Saturday (3pm).
The Isle of Wight official has been a Football League referee for a decade.
Linington has refereed the Swans before, most recently in a 1-0 League Cup defeat at Hull City in September 2015.
His last Liberty assignment was for a Championship fixture back in 2011, with Swans beating Ipswich 4-1.
He was also in charge of a 2-1 League Cup defeat to Scunthorpe in 2009 when Garry Monk, Gorka Pintado and Angel Rangel were all sent off.
Linington refereed Preston in their final away game of last season, when they triumphed 1-0 at Sheffield United.
He will be assisted this weekend by Adam Matthews and Mark Pottage, with Kevin Johnson the fourth official.
