Northamptonshire based referee Dean Whitestone (pictured above) will take charge of his twelfth game of the season this weekend. The last game he took charge of was Bury’s 2-1 home victory against Chesterfield at Gigg Lane a couple of weeks ago.
Whitestone has only dished out 28 yellow cards in 11 games, an average of under three per game. He is yet to brandish a red card this season.
The last Bradford City fixture he officiated was the 3-1 home defeat to Millwall in the League One Play-Off Semi-Final first leg in May; he also took charge of City’s 4-0 victory at Peterborough United in February.
Key Men
Jayson Leutwiler
Age: 27 | Position: Goalkeeper | Previous Club: Middlesbrough
Leutwiler (pictured above) is certainly an important member of the squad at Shrewsbury Town, and at 27 years old there is no reason why he won’t continue to improve and continue to catch the eye.
The Swiss stopper spent time in the youth system at hometown club Neuchatel Xamax before joining probably the biggest club in Switzerland, FC Basel. He featured regularly for the club’s Under-21s side before a promotion into the first team squad. He never featured at first team level and following a loan at FC Schaffhausen, he signed for Middlesbrough in 2012. He played just five times for ‘Boro before a move to Shrewsbury Town in June 2014 on a free transfer.
Louis Dodds
Age: 29 | Position: Midfielder | Previous Club: Port Vale
An attacking midfield player with an eye for goal, Dodds put an end to an eight year association with Port Vale by opting for a move to Shrewsbury Town in the summer. He began his career back in 2006 with Leicester City but he never made a first team appearance for the Foxes and after loan spells at Northwich Victoria, Rochdale and Lincoln City, he signed for Port Vale on a permanent basis in July 2008.
Since making a goal scoring debut for the Valiants against Luton Town in August 2008, he went on to make a total of 334 appearances (56 goals) for the club before his move to Shropshire in the summer. To date, he’s made 14 appearances (3 goals) for today’s visitors.
AJ Leitch-Smith
Age: 26 | Position: Forward | Previous Club: Port Vale
Another former Port Vale star, Leitch-Smith opted for a move to Shrewsbury in the summer. His tenure at Vale Park wasn’t quite as long as Dodds’, he spent just a single season with the club.
To date, he’s scored just once for his new club; finding the net in a 2-1 victory against Championship leaders Huddersfield Town in the Capital One Cup. He made his professional debut for Crewe Alexandra in September 2009 and he went on to make 122 appearances (22 goals) for the club before a move to Yeovil Town in June 2014.
He spent just a single season with the Glovers, finding the net just twice. It was a different story last season, he scored 12 goals in 43 appearances for Vale including a goal against Bradford City in a 1-1 draw at Vale Park in January.
Ivan Toney
Age: 20 | Position: Forward | Previous Club: Newcastle United
A pacey forward, Toney is currently on loan from Championship side Newcastle United and has three goals in ten appearances at the time of writing. He broke through into the professional game with hometown club Northampton Town and made his senior debut as a late sub in a 3-3 draw against Bradford City at Valley Parade in November 2012 in the FA Cup.
During three years as a first team player at Sixfields, he made 60 appearances (13 goals) before signing for Newcastle United in August 2015. He has made just four substitute appearances for United and had two loan spells last season with eventually promoted Barnsley.