Details of Preston North End manager's red card at Watford emerge and 'pre-conceived bias' frustration

Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom’s red card at Watford transpired after goalkeeper Freddie Woodman was accused of time wasting.

The Regulatory Commission’s written reasons have now been published after Heckingbottom was sanctioned with misconduct and handed a two-match touchline ban, as well as a £7,500 fine.

In the 2-1 away win at Vicarage Road - in late January - Preston’s boss was dismissed at half-time and had to watch the second half from the away dressing room via a video feed.

Written evidence from referee Tom Nield, assistants Alex James and Andrew Dallison, and fourth official James Bell has been published - as well as the response.

That includes statements from Heckingbottom, Mike Pollitt (PNE), Dominic Lakeland (PNE), Paul Snellgrove (EFL), Richard Walker (Watford) and Ben Rhodes (PNE).

There are disagreements - the North End manager denies hitting a wall, or attempting to emerge for the second half after being sent off.

Heckingbottom admitted to using foul language after being frustrated by the officials’ attitude towards Woodman - who had taken ‘14 seconds’ to take his goal kick but been asked to speed up.

As per the document, PNE’s boss said: ‘I should also stress again, that you can clearly hear from the audio provided from the officials’ mics that I am very calm until the official says ‘we all know what he’s [Woodman’s] like’ and ‘we do our research’.

‘These two statements got me very angry as they showed a pre-conceived bias against our team, suggesting the referee had already made his mind up before we started that we were going to be time-wasting and taking our time over set pieces.’

“You don’t want to be in that position.”

Reflecting on his touchline ban last week, Heckingbottom said: “It's weirder for me, isn't it? I think it's me who suffers. We do all the work in the week then, come game day, I just probably feel a little bit helpless. The biggest thing for me is that I'm not as emotionally engaged in the game as I am when I'm on the sideline.

“That's something I've practised over time, to get to what - I think - helps you have the biggest influence during game day. When you detach from that, you feel like you've lost your right arm or something like that. After a game, not the same adrenaline, not the same highs and lows, but that's all personal. I just prefer being at the side. That's what I want to do.

“That's where I want to be. You don't want to be in that position. Who really misses out apart from me? I've had experiences where I've been up there, not involved in a game and felt it has impacted us and affected us. That's just my opinion on the situation. Those feelings are probably heightened and the frustration is heightened because I'm not involved and I’m not there.”