All eyes will be on Hillsborough Stadium on Friday night as Sheffield Wednesday host Sunderland in the Championship, and we should expect the referee to keep things fairly calm on the night.
Both Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland are in desperate need of a win this weekend to get back on track after a couple of bad results for either team.
The Black Cats have lost successive games for the first time this season after falling to defeats against Hull City and Leeds United, and Regis Le Bris needs to find a way to stop the rot.
We can’t wait to watch Sheffield Wednesday vs Sunderland and see how the Frenchman changes things up, particularly as he has a handful of new injuries to deal with.
It will be an interesting tie, and one that pundits believe Sunderland can take something from. But, one thing we should be predicting is that the referee will let the game flow, at least based on his past record.
Who is the referee for Sheffield Wednesday vs Sunderland?
The referee for the upcoming fixture between Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland will be Will Finnie.
His assistants at Hillsborough will be Daniel Leach and Mark Stevens, while the fourth official on the night will be Oliver Langford.
Will Finnie referee record in 2024/25
Will Finnie has taken charge of 24 matches this season, with 11 of them coming in the Championship, six in League One, four in League Two, and three in the Carabao Cup.
Across those games, he’s only given one red card so far, with Gillingham’s Ethan Coleman being dismissed for two bookings in a 3-0 win for the Gills over Tranmere Rovers. That was way back in September 2024.
| Statistic | Will Finnie 2024/25 |
| Games | 24 |
| Yellow cards | 76 |
| Red cards | 1 |
| Yellow cards/game | 3.17 |
| Penalties awarded | 3 |
| Fouls per game | 22.04 |
| Fouls per tackle | 0.69 |
He has a yellow card per game average of 3.17, which is very much on the low side. Typically, we see referees registering an average of at least four yellow cards per game.
Finnie has also only awarded three penalties this season, and his fouls per tackle ratio is pretty low, too, at 0.69 across his 24 outings.
Will Finnie doesn’t want to give out yellow cards
Ahead of the new season, Will Finnie sat down with Sky Sports News to discuss his role as a referee, how things would be different for the 2024/25 campaign, and why he doesn’t really want to book players if he can help it.
Asked about the way players act on the pitch, Finnie said: “We’re addressing that poor behaviour and trying to build positive relationships with the players. That’s our key focus.
“We’re football fans, we get it, it’s a game full of emotion… we’ve got a whole host of different approaches we can take… we’ve got the opportunity to build that good rapport and communicate to manage that situation.
“We don’t want to have to jump straight to a yellow or red card if we can help it. But of course, if that line is crossed, where it’s clearly unacceptable, we’ve got a job to do and we will make sure we enforce that.”
Clearly, Finnie’s approach is working, given the low volume of cards he has had to give out this season. Let’s see if the trend continues in what is sure to to be a gritty, ‘nasty’ game between the Owls and Sunderland.