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Friend reunited with Magpies for Blackburn Cup clash
Kevin Friend will referee Newcastle United’s FA Cup third round tie against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon.
The Magpies entertain Tony Mowbray’s Championship outfit at St. James’ Park (5.30pm kick-off), and 47-year-old Friend has been tasked with keeping order as both sides seek a place in the fourth round.
Friend, who has been a member of the Select Group Referees since 2009, has taken charge of a League Cup final (2013) and the Community Shield (2012) over the course of a refereeing career which has spanned three decades. His first top-flight appointment came in 2009.
Since then the Bristol-born official has been a regular in the Premier League, and has already taken charge of one Newcastle game this term – the 2-1 defeat at Manchester City in September.
In total, Friend has refereed 20 games across the top division, Championship, Carabao Cup and Checkatrade Trophy in 2018/19. In that time, he has shown a total of 80 yellow cards, but just one red – to Brighton’s Shane Duffy in their win over Crystal Palace last month.
He will be assisted by Matthew Wilkes and Adrian Holmes on Saturday, with Martin Coy as fourth official.
And, with VAR set to be in operation in a Magpies fixture for the first time, Craig Pawson will be the video assistant referee, with Simon Bennett assisting him.