Paul Tierney will referee Millwall's Championship derby against West Ham United at The Den on Saturday. The 45-year-old Select Group official, who oversaw the 2023 FA Cup final, has never taken charge of a West Ham match in the second tier before.
Tierney has been part of the elite refereeing group since 2016 and was on the FIFA International List between 2018 and 2022. His major final appointments also include the 2021 EFL Cup final and the 2019 Championship play-off final. He has refereed West Ham 19 times previously, but all those games were in the Premier League.
Experienced team
He will be assisted by Richard West and Sam Lewis, with Lewis Smith as the fourth official. West, who has officiated over 450 senior matches including the 2017 EFL Cup final, will be assisting in a West Ham fixture for the 32nd time. Sam Lewis, a Select Group 2 official, will be working his fifth Hammers game. Smith, who refereed West Ham's home win over Wolves earlier this month, took charge of his first Premier League match in February 2024.
The appointment comes as Millwall, 11th in the table with 10 points from seven games, prepare to host the league leaders. Gary Rowett's side are four points behind West Ham and will be looking to improve on a recent run of one win in their last five matches. Their last outing was a 2-2 draw at Middlesbrough, where Lyndon Dykes scored his fourth goal of the season. The club's injuries list includes several key players ahead of the derby.
Kick-off at The Den is scheduled for 12.30pm BST on Saturday, 19 September. The full schedule for the coming weeks is available on the club's fixtures page.
Read the full report at whufc.com
