It seems only fitting that as Peterborough visit Spotland on the opening day of the season for the third year running, the match is yet again refereed by a North-East official.

After Geoff Eltringham in 2014 and Andy Haines a year ago, David Webb will make the trip down from County Durham to take charge at Spotland on Saturday.

The official, who joined the league list in 2008, will be refereeing at Spotland for the seventh time, with his most recent visit being for the 2-1 home loss to Walsall last August.

David was also the man in the middle at Swindon in December, where Dale lost 2-1 having had John O’Sullivan sent-off early in the game for a terrible tackle.

Other notable Dale games refereed by Mr Webb are the 5-0 defeat at Barnsley in May 2015 and the excellent 2-2 home draw with Brighton in April 2011.

The full list of Mr Webb’s Dale matches as a referee is:

Oct 08 Rochdale v Dagenham L 0-2

Apr 10 Hereford v Rochdale L 1-2

Apr 11 Rochdale v Brighton D 2-2

Oct 11 Rochdale v Colchester D 2-2

Mar 12 Huddersfield v Rochdale D 2-2

Sep 12 Rochdale v Barnet W 2-0

Sep 13 Rochdale v Wycombe W 3-2

May 15 Barnsley v Rochdale L 0-5

Aug 15 Rochdale v Walsall L 1-2

Dec 15 Swindon v Rochdale L 1-2

Last season David refereed 36 games, showing 100 yellow cards and seven red.

Photo: Action Images

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