Surrey referee Gavin Ward will take charge of Dale’s long midweek trip to Swindon on Tuesday.

This is his first Dale appointment since April 2015, when he was in the middle for our 1-1 draw at Doncaster.

Three months earlier Gavin was in the middle for Dale’s 2-1 win at Bradford, in which Calvin Andrew scored one of his famous last minute winners.

Phil Parkinson, who was Bradford’s manager at the time, moaned about the referee, saying: “They have dragged him all the way up from Surrey for this match.”

Parkinson’s main gripe was the early dismissal of his goalkeeper for bringing down Matty Done in an incident that led to a penalty from which Dale eventually took the lead.

Fans may remember Ian Henderson chipped his spot-kick against the bar, but Peter Vincenti slammed in the rebound.

Before that game, we had last seen Gavin at Cheltenham in October 2013 where two late Henderson goals helped Dale come from behind to record a crucial 2-1 win on their way to promotion.

In total, he has officiated at eight previous Dale matches since joining the league list in 2007, with varying outcomes:

Jan 2008 v Wycombe (a), W 1-0

Mar 2009 v Barnet (a), L 1-2

May 2011 v Bournemouth (a), W 2-1

Oct 2011 v Bournemouth (a), D 1-1

Aug 2012 v Torquay (a), L 2-4

Oct 2013 v Cheltenham (a), W 2-1

Jan 2015 v Bradford (a), W 2-1

Apr 2015 v Doncaster (a), D 1-1

So far this season Mr Ward has refereed 12 matches, showing 39 yellow cards and two red.

Photo: Action Images

Queens Park Rangers Polls