'Top-class' referee to take charge of Sheffield United vs Mansfield Town Carabao Cup fixture
The English Football League has confirmed its referee appointments for the first round of the Carabao Cup.
Experienced Championship referee Stephen Martin will take charge of Sheffield United's Carabao Cup first-round clash with Mansfield Town at the One Call Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Following an encouraging pre-season campaign, which featured four wins and two draws, United will be hoping to make a winning start to the 2026/27 season and build further momentum ahead of their Championship opener against Birmingham City six days later.
The Blades are determined to make a much quicker start to this season than they did last after losing each of their opening seven games across all competitions, including a 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City in the first round of the Carabao Cup.
Although new signings have been slow to arrive, with United bringing in just two new faces so far this summer, manager Chris Wilder's presence in the dugout will boost supporters' hopes of seeing their team make an encouraging start to the campaign.
Ahead of Sunday's trip to Nottinghamshire, it has been confirmed that the vastly experienced Martin will take charge of the contest. He officiated 30 matches across all competitions last season, but only one of those came in the Carabao Cup.
He also took charge of just one fixture involving the Blades last season, refereeing their 4-0 win over Stoke City at Bramall Lane in December. Although he awarded United a penalty in that game, he was not involved in any major controversy, meaning he was not the centre of attention post-match.
Despite that being the first United fixture he had officiated since their 1-1 draw with Bristol City at Bramall Lane in March 2025, Martin was praised by Wilder last September following the red card the Blades boss received for kicking a football into the crowd during his side's 2-1 defeat to Southampton.
Wilder was shown a red card by referee Adam Herczeg shortly after the half-time whistle, leaving former assistant manager Alan Knill to conduct the post-match media duties. Knill, who is now at Huddersfield Town, said Wilder was "disappointed" by the decision.
A few days later, Wilder confirmed he planned to appeal the decision, suggesting a more experienced referee should have taken charge of United's clash with the Saints, naming Martin as one of the best referees in the division.
Wilder said: "If there are up-and-coming referees, why hasn't the referee had more Championship games this season?
"This is a team [Southampton] that has come out of the Premier League against a team that went incredibly close in getting to the Premier League last season. This is a top-notch Championship game - regardless of league positions, it's high-profile.
"There's Stephen Martin, who is a top-class Championship referee being a fourth official at one of the games [Bristol City v Ipswich Town]. Why aren't we being given an experienced referee for this fixture? This is the thing I don't get - the appointment system.”