Merseyside referee Robert Jones is the man in charge of Dale’s FA Cup second round tie at Slough Town on Monday.
The Liverpool official is in his second season on the National List and has made great progress in that time, so much so that he is widely tipped to be joining the Select Group 2 referees next year.
Indeed, Rob’s marks were so impressive last season that he was appointed to two Championship fixtures towards the end of the campaign.
He has also had two games at that level this term, most recently last weekend when he refereed Hull v Bristol City.
Dale met Mr Jones three times last season, with those games producing a win and two defeats.
He was in the middle for our 1-0 loss at Port Vale in August, but then oversaw the 1-0 win at Charlton at the start of October.
Rob then made his first refereeing appearance at the Crown Oil Arena in January when Dale entertained Oxford, although on that occasion he was a replacement for the unavailable Darren Drysdale.
Fans may recall Dale went into that game having won ten consecutive home games, only to lose 4-0!
Rob moved up from refereeing in the National League in 2015/16, where he was rated as the leading match official.
His campaign culminated at Wembley where he was in charge of the Forest Green v Grimsby play-off final that saw The Mariners promoted to League Two.
He has had a busy season so far in 2017/18, refereeing 21 matches and showing 54 yellow cards and five red.