Mike Jones will be the man in charge as the R`s travel to Southampton on Saturday.
Photo courtesy of refworld.com
The 38-year-old is one of the newest additions to the select group of referees with both he and Stuart Attwell appointed to the list in 2008. He is currently in his 15th year as an official with 11 of those spent as a referee having been appointed to the national list in 1997.
His first game was back in August of that year as he gave Iyseden Christie his marching orders for Mansfield Town in a 2-1 win over Mark Hateley`s Hull City. It was two years later that he refereed his first Rangers game.
QPR lost out to promotion hopefuls Bolton Wanderers by the odd goal in three as Bob Taylor`s brace gave the Trotters the win despite Keith Rowland`s penalty to halve the arrears.
In March 2001 Mr Jones caused controversy when he sent off four men in a heated affair between Bristol City and Millwall. Tony Thorpe and Peter Beadle were sent off for the Robins as Neil Harris and Paul Moody went for the Lions.
Neil Harris had drawn the visitors level from the spot, before Mr Jones dealt them a hammer blow by gifting Bristol City a penalty in the dying stages with Lee Matthews grabbing the winner from the spot in an eventful clash.
Despite refereeing mainly in divisions one and two Mr Jones was rarely assigned a Rangers fixture and there was a wait until 2003 for his next Rangers game, a disappointing goalless draw at home to Wycombe Wanderers.
After Messrs Prosser and Styles had waded in with their ill-advised cards to spoil several meetings, Mr Jones kept a lid on an ordinarily heated as both sides drew a blank in W12. He also dished out a booking for now QPR youth coach Keith Ryan.
Millwall`s best friend then returned to haunt the Lions once more away to Cardiff City as in 2005 he sent off three men in the final minute of the game with David Livermore and Alan Dunne going for the Lions and James Collins for the Bluebirds. Millwall went on to win the game courtesy of a solitary spot kick from QPR product Danny Dichio.
He has refereed QPR against Southampton before as the R`s under the guidance of Ian Holloway beat the Saints by a goal to nil. Richard Langley`s penalty kick enough to separate the sides in W12 as Theo Walcott left the field in a QPR shirt.
John Gregory`s Rangers travelled to Luton Town in an FA Cup replay in 2007 and in light of the R`s cup record a familiar result was on display. Zesh Rehman sliced a harmless ball into the bottom corner to hand the Hatters a win. Stefan Bailey was sent off and inadvertently struck Mr Jones in disbelief before he left the field – no further action was taken.
Later that season Rangers were fighting for their lives as they faced an unwanted trip to high-flying Sunderland. Mr Jones did hand the R`s a penalty as Martin Rowlands levelled things up after Dean Whitehead`s opener. However Grant Leadbitter`s strike from distance secured the points for the eventual champions.
The referee who has been entrusted with a number of Championship playoff fixtures hasn`t overseen a Rangers fixture since the defeat of the Stadium of Light.
So far this campaign Mr Jones has taken charge of 38 games handing out 80 yellow cards and four reds, giving him an average of 2.21 cards per game.
Mr Jones & Queens Park Rangers
Bolton Wanderers 2-1 QPR – 13-03-99
Goals: Bob Taylor 30, 58; Keith Rowland 69pen.
Yellow Cards: Chris Plummer.
QPR 0-0 Wycombe Wanderers – 13-09-03
Goals: NONE
Yellow Cards: Paul Furlong, Gino Padula; Roger Johnson, Keith Ryan.
QPR 1-0 Southampton – 14-01-06
Goals: Richard Langley 21pen.
Yellow Cards: Darren Powell.
Luton Town 1-0 QPR – 23-01-07
Goals: Zesh Rehman 80og.
Yellow Cards: Chris Coyne, Dean Morgan.
Red Cards: Stefan Bailey
Sunderland 2-1 QPR – 14-04-07
Goals: Dean Whitehead 7, Grant Leadbitter 76; Martin Rowlands 23pen.
Yellow Cards: Danny Simpson; Adam Bolder, Danny Cullip, Paul Furlong.
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