Steve Bennett, Orpington, Kent.

Steve Bennett spent five seasons refereeing in the Nationwide before making the step up to the big time, but made a name for himself as a linesman - joining the league list in 1992.

Bennett has now been elevated to the hallowed ranks of the FIFA list. He hit the headlines in his first game in 2003/04, sending off Francis Jeffers in a bad-tempered Community Shield match between Arsenal and Manchester United.When he was called to officiate in their next league meeting at Old Trafford, eyebrows were raised, and he was again caught up in the controversy after sending off Patrick Vieira, which incited a near-riot.

Ref Bennett has officiated at 13 Fulham Premiership games in which Fulham have gained one, yes 1, victory, six draws and six defeats.

So far this season Steve Bennett has reffed four Fulham games 2 at home and 2 away which resulted in 2 draws and two defeats. He has reffed Fulham against Liverpool twice before and the results were 1 draw and 1 defeat. Hopefully Mr Bennett can be involved in a winning result for Fulham on Saturday.

Referee Stats - 2006/2007

Ref Bennett is one of the busier yellowcard issuer in the Premiership but at least he manages to keep his whistle in his pocket more than most of his collegue refs. The worry for players is that if he whistles the yellow peril is more likely to appear than normal.He is also twice as likely, in comparison to the average ref, to produce a red, with ony three refs producing more. However Ref Bennett has reduced his penalty per game ratio to 1 in 9 games from 1 in 5 games for the last two seasons, presumably in the league's campaign against divers.

Mr. Bennett's Av Premiership Ref Total Match Avg Pos Total Match Avg Games 26     18   Fouls 602 23.2 15th 448 25.0 Yellows 88 3.4 7th 58 3.2 Reds 4 0.2 6th 2 0.1 Penalties 3 0.1 15th 5 0.3 Fouls per Yellow - 6.8 5th - 7.8

Homer? (2006-2007) Total Home Away Total Games Fouls Yellow Red Pen Fouls Yellow Red Pen Fouls Yellow Red Pen 26 298 31 1 2 304 57 3 1 602 88 4 3   50% 35% 25% 67% 50% 65% 75% 33%         Premiership Average 18 49% 43% 33% 59% 51% 57% 67% 41% 448 58 2 5

After 26 games Ref Bennett has managed to split his fouls 50-50 between home and away players, no mean achievement. In relation to yel, reds and pens he has a clear bias towards home teams.