Eight referees to step up from the National League to League One and League Two next season

Eight referees and eight assistants will be officiating games in League One and League Two next season after being promoted from the National League.

The referees to move up are Ben Atkinson, Matt Corlett, Ed Duckworth, Scott Jackson, Jacob Miles, Scott Simpson, Scott Tallis and Danny Middleton. Corlett was in charge for Notts County’s play-off final win over Chesterfield at Wembley.

And joining them are assistant referees Karl Buckley, Shaun Farrer, Jack Forder, Andrew Hickman, Callum Jones, Stuart Kane, Daniel Robinson and Ryan Williams.

Announcing the news, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited said: “PGMOL is delighted to announce the promotions of 16 officials to the National Group for the 2023/24 season. Following their promotions, these officials will primarily operate on Sky Bet League One and Sky Bet LeagueTwo fixtures.”

Meanwhile, Anthony Backhouse and Andrew Kitchen, both of whom refereed the Cobblers at least once in 2022/23, have been promoted to Select Group 2 (SG2) and will predominantly take charge of Championship matches next season. Stepping up to Select Group 1 to ref in the Premier League are Tim Robinson and Darren Bond.