Scots referee Bobby Madden has been handed the English League One clash between former Old Firm midfield rivals Scott Brown and Joey Barton on Saturday.
The 43-year-old from East Kilbride resigned from the SFA in the summer to move south of the border for professional reasons and will take charge of Bristol Rovers v Fleetwood Town at the Memorial Stadium.
Madden will see a familiar face in the away dug-out after coming across Cod Army boss and Celtic legend on numerous occasions during two decades as a whistler in Scotland which saw him take charge of more than 1000 games. Brown took over at the Highbury Stadium in the summer after hanging up his boots following an illustrious playing career. And he sup against Barton who he was briefly on the opposite side of the Glasgow divide when the Scouser moved to Rangers.
The pair were involved in a war of words early on when the ex Manchester City and Newcastle United boasted that Brown wasn’t in the same league as him but was made to eat his words when the Hoops thrashed Rangers 5-1 in the first derby of that season.
Madden was on the FIFA refs list for 12 years but retired to focus on domestic football before joining the National Group of referees in the summer after relocating to England. He has mainly taken charge of League One and League Two games.
Madden will be assisted by Darren Wilding and Mark Derrien with Alex James as fourth official on Saturday in the clash between the teams sitting 17th and 15th in England’s third tier.
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