Wrexham take on Bristol Rovers this weekend knowing they need to record a win to maintain their place in the automatic promotion spots, and they’ll be hoping the referee doesn’t stand in their way.
After last weekend’s results, with Wrexham failing to break the stalemate against Wigan, and Wycombe securing three points for themselves, the race for second place comes down to just one point now.
The battle will go down to the wire for Wrexham and Wycombe, it seems, but there’s every chance the Red Dragons could extend their advantage on Friday when they face a struggling Bristol Rovers side.
If Wycombe lose and Wrexham win, it could be curtains for the Chairboys, but Phil Parkinson’s men will be taking nothing for granted, of course.
Now, we take a look ahead to the big game on Friday, with a focus on the man in the middle for the match.
Who is the referee for Wrexham vs Bristol Rovers?
The referee for the Wrexham vs Bristol Rovers game will be Martin Coy.
He will be joined by assistants Callum Gough and Grant Taylor, while Richard Eley will be the fourth official at the Racecourse Ground.
Martin Coy’s referee record this season
Martin Coy has taken charge of 21 games this season, with 11 in League One, nine in League Two, and one in the Championship.
He has shown 69 yellow cards at a rate of just 3.29 per game, which is fairly low, and has only brandished one red card so far.
| Statistics | Martin Coy 2024/25 |
| Games | 21 |
| Yellow cards | 69 |
| Yellows per game | 3.29 |
| Red cards | 1 |
| Penalties awarded | 0 |
| Fouls per game | 21.57 |
It seems Coy is a pretty lenient referee, with just 21.57 fouls per game when he’s in charge, and he’s not actually awarded a single penalty yet this season.
How Martin Coy caused a stir from the sidelines for Bolton Wanderers
This season, Martin Coy has done very little to disrupt the flow of things in his games, and with just one red card and no penalties, he’s not had much chance to upset anyone.
But, back in 2023, he was involved in a bizarre situation that saw then-Bolton manager, Ian Evatt, sent off due to a complex and very unusual ruling in the game.
Evatt, who had already picked up a yellow card in a clash with Fleetwood Town, was given his second after telling Martin Coy, who was fourth official on the day, that he had looked at the replay of an incident and didn’t agree with the on-field decision.
That might sound drastic, but what we’d imagine to be a fairly innocuous incident is technically against the rules, as managers are not permitted to look at or comment on any replay of footage used by the referee and his team.
Coy called over referee Tom Nield to alert him to Evatt’s indiscretion, and the red card was shown.
At the time, Bolton assistant Peter Atheron said: “Based on the incident the gaffer merely said he’d seen it back, he wasn’t making any reference in terms of abusive language.
“He just said: ‘I have seen it back and you have got it wrong…’ And, apparently, just referring to having seen it back, that is a red card.”
Let’s hope Phil Parkinson doesn’t mess around with match replays on Friday!