Doughty takes City visit - Referee
Friday, 11th Apr 2025 08:06 by Clive Whittingham

Blackpool referee Leigh Doughty, in his fifth season on the Championship list, takes QPR’s home game with Bristol City this Saturday.

Referee >>> Leigh Doughty (Blackpool)

Assistants >>> Robert Hyde (Leicestershire) and Jonathan Hunt (Merseyside)

Fourth Official >>> Tom Reeves (Birmingham)

History

QPR 1 Luton Town 1, Tuesday August 27, 2024, League Cup Second Round

QPR: Walsh 8; Dunne 6 (Smyth 59, 6), Cook 6 (Clarke-Salter 46, 6), Morrison 7, Paal 6; Varane 5, Colback 6 (Dembele 71, 7); Santos 7, Dixon-Bonner 5 (Madsen 71, 6), Saito 5 (Lloyd 59, 7); Celar 6

Subs not used: Nardi, Field, Frey, Kolli

Goals: Santos 11 (assisted Dixon-Bonner)

Yellow Cards: Santos 33 (foul), Colback 49 (repetitive fouling), Celar 84 (foul)

Luton: Kaminski 4; Walters 6, Burke 6 (Holms 46, 6), Bell 6 (Andersen 46, 6), Doughty 7; Nelson 6, Nakamba 5 (Walsh 46, 5), Clark 7 (Baptiste 63, 5), Chong 6; Abebayo 6, Morris 5 (Woodrow 72, 5)

Subs not used: Johnson, Mpanzu, Shea, Taylor

Goals: Nelson 16 (unassisted)

Yellow Cards: Walters 40 (foul), Morris 72 (foul)

Referee – Leigh Doughty (Blackpool) 7 Did I agree with every decision here? No. Colback’s yellow looked harsh to me, though he’d committed four fouls by that point and I did close my eyes and pray a bit when he started gobbing off about it that he wasn’t about to talk himself into a second dissent red card of the season already. Celar getting a yellow for a high boot when it was hardly off the floor and the guy was giving in at his feet seemed over the top. But I accept the decisions from this guy, he’s calm and composed in his management of the game, he’s across everything that’s going on without ever being intrusive. There’s no histrionics before every set piece. No moments when you feel the game slipping out of control, both sets of players, both sets of fans, getting irritated. I would of course pitch that this is because he’s got a better “feel for the game” than Gavin Ward, who I criticised for the opposite at the weekend. A beautifully woolly phrase wankers like me can use to mean a bit of everything and nothing – but if you went to both games and watched how they were refereed I genuinely believe you do know what I’m on about. You could come back and say that actually it’s just my bias, in both how I like games to be refereed, and how I like my life to be spent without Gavin Ward in it. There may, of course, be some truth in that.

QPR 0 Middlesbrough 2, Saturday March 9, 2024, Championship

A second goal at the other end felt a lot more likely and sure enough Forss provided it with a back post header from an acute angle that should have weighted the whole thing in the goalkeeper’s favour. It was unfortunate really, after the chaotic officiating in midweek, that referee Leigh Doughty spoiled an impressive performance to this point by failing to spot a pretty obvious pull on Willock’s shirt for a QPR free kick at one end that then directly led to a goal at the other. He’ll say, justifiably, Rangers had more than enough chances to deal with the situation between the foul and the goal, not least at the moment of its scoring when any professional goalkeeper in the world must surely be doing better than this.

QPR: Begovic 3; Dunne 5, Cook 5, Clarke-Salter 6, Paal 5 (Larkeche 78, 5); Field 5 (Hayden 55, 4), Colback 5; Willock 5, Andersen 6 (Armstrong 78, 5), Chair 6 (Smyth 55, 6); Frey 5 (Dykes 55, 4)

Subs not used: Fox, Hodge, Cannon, Walsh

Yellow Cards: Hayden 64 (foul), Clarke-Salter 80 (fighting)

Boro: Dieng 7; McNair 6, van den Berg 8, Clarke 7; Ayling 7 (Dijksteel 90+4, -), Howson 7, O’Brien 7, Engel 6; Forss 6 (Silvera 78, 6), Latte Lath 6 (Greenwood 78, 6), McGree 6 (Azaz 90, -)

Subs not used: Barlaser, Jones, Gilbert, Glover, Thomas

Goals: Latte Lath 64 (assisted Clarke), Forss 76 (assisted Ayling)

Yellow Cards: Forss 39 (foul), Engel 66 (foul), Ayling 80 (fighting), Dieng 90+2 (time wasting), McNair 90+3 (time wasting)

Referee – Leigh Doughty (Blackpool) 6 All the calm, confident and assured control of the game that was so badly lacking on Wednesday, and that we’ve come to expect from this official in his brief time in this league. Sadly though, for him and for us, Chris Willock is blatantly fouled in the lead up to the Boro second goal and it wasn’t a difficult decision to get right.

QPR 1 Leicester 2, Saturday October 28, 2023, Championship

One one, in the game, crowd starting to come into play, Ainsworth on the cusp of pulling off the impossible, an hour gone and pace to come up front in the form of Smyth from the bench, Dozzell was about to hit the self destruct button. If you thought Jimmy Dunne’s red card at The Hawthorns was the dumbest thing you’ve ever seen, then strap yourself in for another bedtime story. First Dozzell gave the ball away cheaply in the Leicester half. Keen to make amends he chased all the way back into our half and did the right thing – a tactical foul to interrupt the counter attack. A yellow card, sure, but sensible gamesmanship of the sort we’re usually deficient in. Fatawu wasn’t happy, but then he’s not going to be happy is he? You’ve just clotheslined him on his way into the penalty box he’s hardly going to turn up with a box of Milk Tray. You laugh at him, you let him lose his temper, maybe you get him booked or sent off. You don’t go all fucking hard man routine and start pushing and shoving him back. Thick as a whale sandwich. Referee Leigh Doughty, one of the better officials at this level, saw the whole thing clearly, booked Dozzell for the foul, both players for the pushes, and that was that. QPR’s chances in this game were always slim to none, and slim had indeed just left town.

QPR: Begovic 5; Cannon 6, Kakay 6, Field 6; Adomah 5 (Smyth 87, -), Dozzell 4, Colback 5 (Willock 90+3, -), Paal 6; Kelman 5 (Dixon-Bonner 63, 5), Chair 6, Dykes 5

Subs not used: Archer, Richards (collect your prize at the front desk), Larkeche, Duke-McKenna, Kolli, Drewe

Goals: Dozzell 40 (unassisted)

Red Cards: Dozzell 59 (being a fucking dipshit)

Yellow Cards: Dozzell 59 foul, Dozzell 59 (retalitation), Colback 64 (dissent)

Leicester: Hermansen 6; Choudhury 5 (Pereira 67, 7), Coady 6, Vestergaard 7, Justin 5; Casadei 6 (Iheanacho 79, -), Winks 8, Dewsbury-Hall 7; Fatawu 8 (Albrighton 83, -), Vardy 5 (McAteer 83, -), Mavididi 7

Subs not used: Faes, Souttar, Daka, Madivadua, Stolarczyk

Goals: Mavididi 30 (assisted Dewsbury-Hall), Winks 80 (assisted Mavididi)

Bookings: Fatawu 59 (retaliation)

Referee – Leigh Doughty (Blackpool) 7 No complaints here. Not the referee’s fault Dozzell decided to join the fast growing International Year of the Wally Brain long list that is our playing squad this season. Decent official.

Stoke 0 QPR 1, Saturday April 29, 2023, Championship

Some tales from my first half notes, just to paint the picture of what sort of a game this was. After three minutes QPR botch a free kick opportunity so badly it ends up with Stoke countering back in the opposite direction, which would have caused a problem had Rob Dickie not intervened and then launched a wild pass-back to Dieng of the sort Karl Ready made a ten-year career out of, which would have caused a problem had Seny Dieng not intervened but then in turn hacked a horrid clearance off the outside of his boot and into the stand. Stoke’s first corner, worked short, was eventually cut back low through a crowded penalty area, right past Albert Adomah who was… kneeling down. I’m starting to wonder how many takes those Instagram videos require. 12 — Dieng flaps at a corner. 22 — Ethan Laird (back in the good books this week) a daft tackle but quite a harsh yellow card. 38 — Chair’s cross too high for Adomah. Chair would later try to get on the end of a similar ball himself, collapse to the ground, and plead for a penalty which the referee, rightly, showed little interest in.

Stoke: Bonham 5; Sterling 5, Taylor 5 (Hoever 61, 5), Jagielka 4, Fox 4, Tymon 5; Smallbone 6 (Baker 71, 6), Pearson 5, Laurent 5; Gayle 3 (Powell 61, 5), Campbell 6

Subs not used; Thompson, Macari, Fielding, Howard-Wilkinson

Bookings: Campbell 75 (foul)

QPR: Dieng 6; Laird 6, Dickie 6, Dunne 7, Paal 7; Adomah 6 (Martin 78, 7), Field 6, Iroegbunam 5 (Amos 64, 6), Chair 6 (Willock 90, -); Dykes 7, Lowe 6

Subs not used: Clarke-Salter, Johansen, Archer, Drewe

Goals: Adomah 48 (unassisted)

Bookings: Laird 20 (foul), Field 53 (foul), Amos 90+7 (foul)

Referee — Leigh Doughty (Blackpool) 7 I think this guy is excellent. Few challenges late in this game let away without a yellow card on both sides which raised a few eyebrows, but could basically have refereed this game in his lounge suit. Clearly on the fast track to the Premier League and, at this point, difficult to argue with that.

QPR 1 Blackburn 3, Saturday February 25, 2023, Championship

QPR: Dieng 4; Kakay 5, Dickie 2, Dunne 3, Paal 4; Iroegbunam 5 (Richards (!!) 88, -), Johansen 5, Field 5; Lowe 3, Martin 5 (Adomah 75, 2), Chair 5 (Dozzell 35, 3)

Subs not used: Amos, Archer, Dickson-Bonner, Gubbins

Goals: Iroegbunam 24 (unassisted)

Bookings: Johansen 37 (foul), Kakay 57 (deliberate handball), Field 59 (foul), Lowe 66 (foul)

Blackburn: Pears N/A; Rankin-Costello 8, Carter 6, Hyam 7, Brittain 6; Travis 7, Buckley 7 (Phillips 90+5, -); Thomas 7, Szmodics 7 (Hedges 69, 6), Dolan 7 (Morton 80, -); Gallagher 8

Subs not used: Pickering, Brereton, Garrett, Hilton

Goals: Gallagher 14 (assisted Dolan), 60 (assisted Rankin-Costello), Szmodics 45+2 (assisted Travis)

Referee — Leigh Doughty (Blackpool) 7 An afternoon spent judging whether QPR’s desperate attempts to literally hang onto the coat tails of their opponent were worthy of yellow cards or not.

Huddersfield 2 QPR 2, Friday April 15, 2022, Championship

Huddersfield: Nicholls 6; Turton 7 (Avila 89, -), Lees 6, Colwill 7, Toffolo 7; Hogg 7, Russell 6; Sinani 5 (Anjorin 75, 5), O’Brien 6, Thomas 6; Ward 5 (Holmes 46, 5)

Subs not used: Rhodes, Koroma, Blackman, Sarr

Goals: Barbet og 6 (assisted Hogg), Toffolo 53 (assisted Turton)

Bookings: O’Brien 64 (foul), Holmes 66 (foul), Thomas 90+1 (foul)

QPR: Westwood 6; Odubajo 7, Dunne 5, Barbet 5, McCallum 7; Field 7, Amos 7 (Adomah 85, -), Dozzell 6, Chair 8; Thomas 7 (Gray 83, -), Dykes 6 (Austin 83, -)

Subs not used: Johansen, Ball, Sanderson, Mahoney

Goals: Amos 43 (assisted McCallum), Chair 57 (assisted Odubajo)

Bookings: Austin 90+2 (foul), Field 90+5 (foul)

Referee — Leigh Doughty (Blackpool) 8 Very good.

QPR 1 Bristol City 2, Saturday September 18, 2021, Championship

The afternoon ticking on through five minutes of added time, and QPR seemingly were to be left frustrated with their point. They’d had 26 shots, and 11 on target, to Bristol City’s nine and soon to be three. Johansen’s challenge on Massengo barely existed, and the free kick awarded by the corner flag was a rare misstep from excellent new referee Leigh Doughty — Johansen’s yellow for dissent puts him on four already for the campaign as he races towards a one match ban.

QPR: Dieng 6; Odubajo 5 (Adomah 65, 6), Dickie 6, De Wijs 6, Barbet 6, McCallum 7; Johansen 7; Chair 6, Willock 7; Dykes 5 (Ball 80, -), Gray 6 (Austin 64, 5)

Subs not used: Thomas, Dozzell, Dunne, Walsh

Goals: McCallum 54 (unassisted)

Bookings: Gray 51 (foul), Barbet 79 (foul), Ball 85 (foul), Johansen 90 (dissent)

Bristol City: Bentley 9; Tanner 6, Kalas 7, Atkinson 7, Baker 6 (Dasilva 45, 6), Pring 6 (Semenyo 71, 6); James 6, Bakinson 7, Messengo 8; Martin 6 (Wells 62, 7), Weimann 7

Subs not used: Simpson, Williams, O’Leary, Palmer

Goals: Martin 44 (assisted Messengo/Weimann), Wells 90+3 (assisted Weimann)

Bookings: Bakinson 53 (foul)

Referee — Leigh Doughty (Blackpool) 8 You’re never going to agree with everything, and nor is a referee going to get everything right — the late decision against Johansen resulting in a booking for dissent was a bit of a joke, and many of the the usual complaints about lack of action on time wasting apply — but overall I rated this the best refereeing display we’ve had this season. Calm, unfussy, uninvolved, right up and on top of play, built like an absolute brick shit-house, very confident and assured. Absolute chalk and cheese from the Keith Stroud-chaired chimp’s tea party on Tuesday night and easy to see why he’s been promoted four levels in five years.

Stats

A rapid rise up the ranks for 33-year-old Doughty who joined the EFL list in 2019/20 and was given a League Two play-off date between Cheltenham and Northampton at the end of a first season which included 82 yellows (3.03) and two reds in 27 appointments. He was promoted to the Championship for the start of 2020/21, a fourth elevation in as many seasons for the PE teacher, and finished up with 81 yellows (3.24) and four reds in 25 outings. In 21/22 he concluded on 118 yellows and four reds in 32 games, and was then rather more prolific with 154 yellows and six reds in 33 outings — totals boosted substantially by 21 yellows and a red in his first four games of the season and a hefty haul of eight at Stoke 0-1 Preston in the Ben Pearson derby.

He finished 23/24 on 129 yellows (4.44) and three reds in 29 games, although just three matches account for around a quarter of that – nine yellows at Bradford 1-1 Doncaster on Tuesday, eight yellows and a red at Wycombe 3-2 Bristol Rovers, and eight yellows at Millwall 0-4 Reading in the League Cup.

Pretty prolific with the cards this season – 94 yellows (4.27) and two reds in 24 games. A good chunk of those came in just two games – nine yellows and a red at Sunderland 2-1 Norwich and eight bookings in Portsmouth 0-3 West Brom. Having been almost exclusively in the Championship, Doughty had been dropped back to League One and Two for the last four weeks before his recall this weekend.

No Bristol City games this season but they drew 2-2 at Coventry and 0-0 at Sunderland with this official in 2023/24. City are 5-5-1 from 11 appointments, only Rotherham (12) have had this referee more. QPR are 2-1-4 from seven.

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Pictures - Ian Randall Photography

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