Sunderland vs Birmingham City: Who is the referee?

Ahead of this Saturday's EFL Championship fixture between Sunderland and Birmingham City, here is everything that you need to know about the referee.

Stephen Martin will take charge of Sunderland's Championship clash against Birmingham City at the Stadium of Light this Saturday. 

Martin will be joined by Matthew McGrath and Mark Dwyer as his two assistants, as well as Leigh Doughty as the fourth official. 

The Martin name is well-established within English refereeing, with Stephen being the son of former Premier League official, Andy Martin.  

The Staffordshire-born referee began his EFL career in the 2010/11 season, where he made the step up from the National League into League Two and the FA Cup. 

Since then he has amassed a total of 206 appearances across the EFL and all domestic competitions.

Martin made his Championship debut in the 2012/13 season and has gone on to referee 206 matches, hosting solid experience in the English second tier. 

Martin's record for Sunderland

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With 10 games refereed for Sunderland, The Black Cats have only won twice with Stephen Martin in the middle. 

Sunderland have drawn four and lost four of the other eight games, picking up just seven yellow cards in all matches. 

Martin's most recent outing involving Sunderland was a 6-0 loss to Bolton Wanderers last season in League One. 

He has also refereed a 3-2 win for Sunderland in the EFL Trophy against Grimsby, and an EFL Cup loss to Oxford United on penalties during the 2019/20 season.

But the bulk of Martin's Sunderland appearances came during their 2017/18 relegation season in the Championship, where the Black Cats won one, lost one and drew three. 

Martin's overall record this season

Games: 29
Yellow cards: 129
Red cards: 3
Penalties awarded: 3
Cards per game: 4.55

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