New Year’s Day Ref Watch – Millers v Lincoln City

Rotherham United’s first game of 2025 sees them travel to the LNER Stadium to take on Lincoln City when the referee will be Benjamin Speedie from Merseyside.

After a successful campaign in the National League Ben was promoted to the National League of Referees for the start of the 2021/22 season.

Ben was last in the middle of a Millers game in September when Burton Albion where the visitors to the New York Stadium. Danilo Orsi put the visitors in front on twenty-five minutes, much against run-of-play with Jonson Clarke-Harris equalising fourteen minutes later. Cameron Humphreys scored his first goal in a Millers shirt on fifty-seven minutes with the visitors getting an equaliser from Jack Cooper-Love to make it two—all with twenty minutes to go. Both teams saw a yellow card that day, Hakeem Odoffin for the Millers.

In his first season as a National League referee Ben was at the Alexandra Stadium in January 2022 where Michael Smith opened the scoring on seven minutes against Crewe. The game was stopped for a while after someone from the crowd threw something at the linesman with then captain Richard Wood going over to speak to the travelling fans. A second yellow card on seventy-three minutes for Scott Robertson saw the hosts down to ten men which the Millers immediately took advantage off with the resulting free-kick ending in the back of the net – whether Smith or Alex defender Dave Richards got the final touch it was a win that saw Rotherham move back to the top of League One.

Earlier that season Ben had taken charge of the Millers Papa Johns Trophy game at the Keepmoat Stadium against Doncaster Rovers where goals from Mickel Miller, Freddie Ladapo, an og, Will Grigg, Jake Hull and Joe Mattock gave Rotherham a six-nil victory. The only yellow he showed that night was to Mattock.

Ben has shown sixty-five yellow cards in the twenty games he has been in the middle for this season.

Running the line on New Year’s Day is Matthew Sowerby and Kenwyn Hughes and the Fourth Official will be Seb Stockbridge.