Lewis Smith refereed for the first time in the Premier League last Saturday when he took charge of the game between Fulham and Aston Villa at Craven Cottage, and seven days later he gets his second top flight game when we take on Crystal Palace tomorrow at Selhurst Park.
It really has been an amazing year and a half for Smith who kicked off last season with the Yeovil v Wrexham game in the National League and then, in mid-November, he was given the League Two game between Grimsby and Doncaster. He continued his season with a mix of games in the National League, League Two and League One, a season that ended with a play-off game between Woking and Bromley, followed by his first Championship appointment when he took charge of Watford ‘s 2-0 home win against Stoke. Embed from Getty ImagesHe hasn’t dropped back into the National League at all this season and he’s operated mainly in the bottom two divisions of the Football League, occasionally being allocated a Championship game, a total of five with three of those since mid-January. On Tuesday, 13th February, he refereed the League Two game between Barrow and Forest Green at Holker Street but four days later he was in the Premier League at Fulham and his performance did not go down too well with home fans who treated him to chants of: “You’re not fit to referee.”
He became the fifth Premier League newbie this season, following in the footsteps of Josh Smith, Sam Barrott, Rebecca Welch and Sam...