Riley gets rare Burnley game

Last updated : 30 January 2007 By Tony Scholes

The Leeds based Riley has not been a regular referee for the Clarets over the years and we have to go back as far as 2000 to the last time he took charge of one of our games. That was a 2-1 win over Stockport County at the Turf, a game won with goals from Graham Branch and Andy Payton, so far back that Ian Moore was at the time a £1 million target for the Clarets' boos Stan Ternent.

Back one season from that and we can recall a superb December afternoon on what was our first ever visit to Pride Park when 2^nd Division Burnley took on and beat Premiership Derby 1-0 in the FA Cup, and that day we had Mike Riley in charge.

He was a bit card happy in that cup tie but other than that he didn't cause us too much of a problem, and unless you get him against Manchester United at Old Trafford you should be OK.

This season he's taken charge of 23 domestic games, in which there have been 75 yellow and 7 red cards. Home players have collected 32 of the yellow cards, the other 43 going to away players, whilst 3 of the 4 red cards have gone to home players.

Probably his most problematic game was the one at the Madejski when Reading played Chelsea in the Premiership. Two goalkeepers stretchered off, one very upset Portuguese manager over the incidents and a game that also saw two players, one from each side, sent off and correctly so.

I think we'll settle for a quieter game than that, and there'll be no complaints if the result is the same as the one when he last refereed a game between Derby and Burnley.

He will be assisted tonight by Nigel Bannister (Yorkshire) and Trevor Massey (Cheshire) and the fourth official duties will be carried out by Football League referee Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).

Previous Burnley games:

Season	Opps	V	Res	Y	R	Burnley players carded
a
2000/01	Stockport	h	2-1	3	0	.
1999/2000	Derby	a	1-0	4	0	Armstrong Cook Thomas