Leeds United play-off referee confirmed after Daniel Farke 'should sense this' red card comment

Stuart Jamieson
·2-min read

Leeds United's play-off semi-final first-leg at Norwich City will be officiated by a referee they have already had plenty of history with this season.

Josh Smith will take charge of Sunday's big Carrow Road showdown, in what will be the fifth game he has overseen the Whites this campaign. The good news is that Leeds have only lost once while he has been the man in the middle - the bad news is that he was the ref who sent off Illan Meslier in the 2-1 defeat at Preston back in December.

Leeds boss Daniel Farke was disappointed with the decision that day, with Preston's Milutin Osmajic going down somewhat theatrically after being pushed by the Whites keeper, leading to the red card.

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"He gets the first knock from the first player and the second player who was nothing to do with the situation runs over and gives Illan a hard knock against his body because he just wants to provoke something," Farke fumed on Boxing Day. "Illan reacts and then the player goes down and rolls around 10 times after a little movement from Illan. The red card was just what he wanted.

"As a referee, you should sense this and not influence a game like this in this way. The Preston player's one target was to provoke a red card. He won't win a fair play prize with this diving. I hate this type of behaviour that tries to provoke red cards."

Smith also oversaw the opening weekend 2-2 draw with Cardiff City, plus wins over Hull City and Plymouth Argyle, awarding Leeds a late penalty in April's Elland Road victory over the Tigers.

However, then Plymouth boss Steven Schumacher felt his side should have had a spot-kick in November's 2-1 home win for Leeds, saying "another big call has gone against us at a big ground and that seems to happen every week".

Before this season, Leeds and Smith had only met once, with the referee in charge of the 3-1 FA Cup win over Accrington Stanley in January 2023. He has overseen two Norwich City matches this season, their 2-2 draw with rivals Ipswich Town and a 3-1 home defeat to Blackburn Rovers.

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