Assistant referee at centre of Leeds United controversy appointed to high-stakes promotion fixture this weekend
Joe Donnohue
By Joe Donnohue
Leeds United journalist
Published 10th Apr 2025, 12:29 BST
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Assistant referee Darren Williams will run the line at Wycombe Wanderers vs Stevenage in League One on Saturday after his midweek gaffe at Leeds United’s expense.
Sign up to our Leeds United newsletter
Enter your email
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Notice and Terms of Service apply.
The assistant referee incorrectly flagged Ao Tanaka offside when the Japan international had prodded home a second Leeds goal at the Riverside Stadium on Tuesday evening.
It followed similar errors by Williams, ruling out Joel Piroe’s strike against Millwall weeks earlier and Willy Gnonto’s late clincher versus Coventry City at the beginning of February.
Advertisement
Hide Ad
Daniel Farke fumed on the touchline but managed to keep his composure at full-time, telling Sky Sports: “That’s the same linesman within the last 8 weeks, he has ruled three regular goals out at Coventry, [against] Millwall and today. And I wouldn’t say they were the most difficult decisions. So, why do we keep sending him to Leeds United matches?”
Williams has been an assistant referee in 35 Championship fixtures this season, whilst running the line only three times in League One. He will drop down to the third tier this weekend as he makes up referee Josh Smith’s officiating team at Wycombe.
Along with fellow assistant Hugh Gilroy and fourth official Aaron Jackson, Williams is set to appear at Adams Park as the Chairboys seek to leapfrog Wrexham into second place. The team are currently three points behind the Hollywood-backed Welsh club, each with five matches of the season remaining.
What have refereeing bodies had to say about Williams?
PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) chose not to comment on record when asked about Williams’ latest performance by the YEP earlier this week.
Advertisement
Hide Ad
A social media account purporting to represent refereeing charity ‘Ref Support UK’ responded to Farke’s comments on Tuesday night, stating: “Wonder if he [Farke] has the same thought process with his players so called mistakes? If players only made one mistake a game for three games in a row, they would be playing for a far better team than Leeds.”
Leeds will be officiated by referee John Busby at Elland Road this weekend. The official chose not to send Preston North End midfielder Ben Whiteman off for a strong tackle on Jayden Bogle during the reverse fixture at Deepdale earlier in the campaign.
Related topics:League OneChampionship
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our C
ommunity Guidelines before commenting.
