The FA make official decision ahead of Preston North End v Wycombe Wanderers clash
Preston North End's 2024/25 FA Cup journey has them up against lower league opposition for the second time in their cup run.
The Lilywhites takes on League One promotion-hopefuls Wycombe Wanderers in the fourth round of the FA Cup this weekend. The tie takes place at the usual kick-off time of 3.00 pm on Saturday at Deepdale with Paul Heckingbottom's men hoping to avoid an upset.
North End were able to get past Charlton Athletic in the previous round winning thanks to a Milutin Osmajic brace. Wycombe though have already beaten Championship opposition, knocking out Portsmouth at Adams Park last month. The Chairboys had to also beat York City and Wealdstone to get to the third round proper so their run began at the start of November.
This is Mike Dodds’ first game in charge of Wycombe after he was appointed as their new head coach following the departure of Matt Bloomfield. Dodds was the caretaker manager of Sunderland last season and this is his first permanent job in senior management.
Preston North End v Wycombe Wanderers referee confirmed
The FA have decided that Benjamin Speedie will oversee proceedings on Saturday. He will be assisted by Conor Brown and Graeme Fyvie with Martin Coy the fourth official. This will be Speedie’s second PNE game of the season after being in charge for their 5-0 win against Harrogate Town in the Carabao Cup back at the end of August.
He has overseen 27 games this season mainly in League One, though he did ref the Championship match between Hull City and QPR last month. His record from those matches are 91 yellow cards, sending a player off for two bookable offences once, with no straight reds, and two penalties awarded. This is the first time this season that he will have done a Wycombe match.
Preston North End v Wycombe Wanderers ticket details
With the game taking place at 3.00 pm on a Saturday there will be no live video stream within the United Kingdom. Supporters will have to wait until after 5.00 pm to see how the goals were scored when the highlights programme comes out.
For home supporters, tickets can be purchased in-person from the ticket office, over the phone on 0344 856 1966, and online. There is an option for either a digital ticket or a physical one which can be picked up from the ticket office.
Tickets are priced at £10 for adults, £5 for seniors, U23s and disabled supporters at pitch level and a quid for U19s, U14s, and U11s. Season ticket holders had their seats reserved from January 22 to January 22 and after that they went on general sale.
A crowd of 7,734 (716 away) attended the match against Charlton Athletic in the previous round, so it is hoped that there will be a bigger attendance for this one given it is being played on a Saturday. As of 3.23 pm on Wednesday, the visitors had sold 835 tickets for Saturday's match. An initial allocation of 1,477 was given to Wycombe ahead of the tie with tickets going on sale on January 17.