Referee who sent off three in Leeds United goal fest takes charge of Whites' Burnley clash

The Northumberland referee was the man in the middle for four Leeds United ties last season, overseeing three losses before the Whites breezed past Spurs at Elland Road.

His third encounter with the Whites in April 2010 proved more memorable than most.

On the final run-in of their promotion-winning season, Leeds United beat MK Dons in a 4-1 win at Elland Road in a vital victory that helped stave off Millwall, who were watching closely on and hoping a Whites slip-up would give them the chance to pounce on an automatic promotion spot.

Lucciano Becchio opened the scoring early before Dons levelled up shortly after.

Max Gradel handed the initiative back to Leeds before Mathias Doumbe was shown a controversial straight red for a challenge on Sanchez Watt.

Jermaine Beckford volleyed home in the final ten before the Dons’ composure collapsed, with David McCracken sent off for a penalty offence, which Beckford converted from the spot for his 30th goal of the season.

Peter Leven shortly joined McCracken and Doumbe in the dressing room as the Dons saw red for the third time of the afternoon.

"It's rare for a team to go down to eight men,” said Simon Grayson.

“It was strange to see, but I think we had the game won well by then anyway.”

The MK Dons staff weren’t happy with Oliver’s performance.

"When referees get it wrong you can tell by the reaction of opposition players,” said Dons' assistant manager Karl Robinson. “I don't think many of their players thought Doumbe was a sending off.”

“I thought it was a good spectacle for 45 minutes,” he added. “It turned into a real strange and bizarre second-half.”

Oliver, who is a Newcastle fan, became the youngest referee to officiate at Wembley in 2007 when he took charge of the Conference National play-off aged 22.

He broke records again three years later when he became the youngest official to referee a Premier League match, overseeing a 2-1 victory for Birmingham City over Blackburn, at the age of 25.

This season he has refereed five matches, three European cup qualifiers and two Premier League matches.

Earlier this week he gave Ayoze Pérez his marching orders after the Spaniard stamped on Pablo Fornals' ankle in Leicester City’s 4-1 loss to West Ham.

On Sunday at Turf Moor he will be assisted by Stuart Burt and Simon Bennett, with Yorkshireman Craig Pawson acting as fourth official. Chris Kavanagh will take charge of VAR, with Sian Massey-Ellis assisting.

Support the YEP and become a subscriber today. Enjoy unlimited access to local news and the latest on Leeds United. With a digital subscription, you see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click HERE to subscribe.