BURNLEY V QPR
 
Mark Clattenburg has the honour of the first match at Turf Moor. During his early career he would have had me worried if I had seen his name down for a Burnley appointment, now I wish he was our referee every week.

His last match at Turf Moor was for the re-arranged FA Cup match against Liverpool. On that occasion he had a very good game, allowing the game to flow in difficult conditions. He waved 5 yellow cards, Valois and Chaplow for the Clarets, and Baros, Mellor and Raven in for the visitors. He also dismissed Antonio Nunez.
 
All this was a complete change from his first Burnley appointment, where he had a nightmare. That occasion was our 1-0 win over Crystal Palace that saw the Popovic and Vickers cautioned for the visitors, and Grant and Taylor for the home side. It was no surprise to see Taylor cautioned though, as Clattenberg had given every decision against him all night.
 
Clattenburg's other three Burnley appointments have seen some high scoring affairs. He cautioned Lee Briscoe in our 3-0 home defeat to Portsmouth in the 2002/03 season, and cautioned four Burnley players in our 7-2 embarrassment against Sheffield Wednesday, a game which also saw Ian Moore given his marching orders. In the following season he cautioned Branch, Camara and May in our 4-1 defeat to West Brom.
 
The positive is that since those days he has improved dramatically, and is now seen as a referee who will communicate well with players and has taken over from Paul Durkin as the 'players ref'. Last season Clattenburg, who is now on the FIFA list of referees, had his season cut short by injury.

He did not take charge of another match after the thrilling cup game between Luton and Liverpool in early January. Last season he took charge of 24 games, showing 81 yellow cards and 4 red cards. Barry Sygmuta and Richard West will assist Clattenburg; the fourth official will be Jock Waugh.  
 
LEICESTER V BURNLEY
 
Our first away match of the season will be officiated by another of the younger Select Group referees, Howard Webb. FIFA referee Webb, like Clattenburg had a poor opening game officiating the Clarets. That was in the 2002/03 season for a match live on Sky Sports in a game that he did not even attempt to let flow in a performance that is very uncharacteristic for him now.

Characteristically for Webb he only issued two cautions, one to Arthur Gnohere and the other to Stuart Nethercott. It was also against Millwall that Webb showed Paul Weller a red card in the FA Cup defeat there in 2004 for a push on Dennis Wise. One that occasion he also issued four cautions, two to each side with Dichio and Wise for the home side, and Tony Grant and Neil Wood for the Clarets.

That game followed the match he officiated earlier that season which saw two bookings in our 1-1 draw with Cardiff. Again on that occasion the bookings were split with Dean West cautioned for Burnley, and Graham Kavanagh for the Bluebirds.  
 
Two years ago he took charge of the FA Cup match at Ewood Park, a game in which many Burnley fans will wonder how Robbie Savage escaped with a yellow card for a horror tackle on Tony Grant. Savage was one of three players to be cautioned on that day, the others being Tony Grant and Gary Cahill.
 
Webb however has impressed many in the Premiership since his promotion to the Select Group list. Last year he officiated the FA Community Shield and the Final of the FA Trophy. Webb certainly does not use too many cards with less than 3 yellow cards per game. Last season he had 114 yellow cards from 46 games with 7 red cards. Ian Gosling and Andy Williams will assist Webb; the fourth official will be football league referee Pat Miller.