Seasoned campaigner Graham Salisbury will referee Dale’s first group game in this season’s Checkatrade Trophy.

The Preston-based official has been a regular at our fixtures down the years and this will be his third Dale appointment in 2016.

Graham was the man in the middle for the first game of the year at Walsall when Dale recorded a thoroughly-deserved 3-0 win at the home of the promotion-chasing Saddlers.

Six weeks later he was at Spotland for the visit of Millwall, a game The Lions won 1-0 with a goal that many thought was offside, but was actually nowhere near.

This game will be Mr Salisbury’s 15th involving Dale, two of which were notable 4-2 away wins.

In March 2010 he was the referee for the 4-2 victory at Accrington which, as it transpired, proved to be the game that took Dale up from League Two.

Eighteen months later, in September 2011, Graham took charge of the 4-2 win at bury, in which Nicky Adams scored and was then sent-off for picking up a second yellow card after removing his shirt and waving it round his head!

The full list of Graham’s Dale matches is:

Oct 01 Rochdale v Southport (LDV) W 2-0

Aug 04 Rochdale v Bury L 0-3

Oct 05 Rochdale v Notts Co W 3-0

Nov 05 Tranmere v Rochdale (LDV) L 2-3

Dec 05 Rochdale v Leyton Orient L 2-4

Apr 06 Notts Co v Rochdale D 1-1

Nov 08 Rochdale v Macclesfield D 1-1

Jul 09 Radcliffe v Rochdale (Fr) W 1-0

Dec 09 Rochdale v Morecambe W 4-1

Mar 10 Accrington v Rochdale W 4-2

Mar 11 Rochdale v Notts Co W 1-0

Sep 11 Bury v Rochdale W 4-2

Mar 12 Rochdale v Oldham W 3-2

Jan 16 Walsall v Rochdale W 3-0

Feb 16 Rochdale v Millwall L 0-1

Other news involving Graham is that his son, Michael Salisbury, was promoted to the National List of referees this season and has so far taken charge of a handful of games in League Two.

Photo: Action Images

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