SATURDAY’S referee at Valley Parade cannot be accused of lacking big-match experience.

Bobby Madden has officiated in Scottish Cup and League Cup finals, including countless Glasgow derbies, in over 1,000 games north of the border.

The 43-year-old has relocated to England for work reasons and City’s curtain-raiser against Doncaster will be his first EFL action.

A former FIFA referee, Madden’s most recent game was the Nations League international between Malta and Estonia.

He has also officiated in Greece and had to halt the Salonica derby last season because of a pitch invasion by PAOK fans in their game against Aris.

Madden came in for criticism for his handling of the Scottish Cup semi-final between Celtic and Rangers in April.

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton, a TV pundit that day, claimed the official “embarrassed himself” and was fuming at a decision not to send off Kemar Roofe as Rangers came from behind to win 2-1 in extra-time.

Sutton said on Twitter: “Bobby Madden turned in one of the worst refereeing performances I’ve seen in Scotland for a long time … and that’s saying something!”

Madden has two decades of experience in the Scottish game. He was on the FIFA list for 12 years before deciding to focus on domestic football.

He will primarily referee in League One and League Two this season but could then be promoted to the full-time ranks of the Championship.

When he announced his exit from the Scottish FA, Madden said: “It's been some journey from Scottish Cup finals to refereeing and training during a pandemic, but the time is right for me for a number of reasons to relocate and as a result I'm grateful for the opportunity with the FA.'