Meet the officials | West Bromwich Albion

James Linington will be the man in the middle when Swansea City host West Bromwich Albion on New Year’s Day.

The Isle of Wight official took charge of his first EFL match in 2008 – a League One encounter between Yeovil Town and Crewe Alexandra – and has since been promoted to Select Group 2, working mostly in the Championship.

Linington has also been fourth official for a number of Premier League encounters.

He first oversaw a Swansea match in 2009 – a second-round League Cup defeat to Scunthorpe United in which he sent off Garry Monk, Gorka Pintado and Angel Rangel – and has blown the whistle on a further 14 matches involving the Swans. 

He was most recently in charge of a Swans game for a 4-0 defeat at Portsmouth on New Year’s Day last year.

On Thursday, Linington will be assisted by Bhupinder Singh Gill and Andrew Dallinson. Ben Toner will be the fourth official.