Seb Stockbridge travels down from Newcastle to take charge of Dale’s home fixture with Shrewsbury on Tuesday night.
Mr Stockbridge is his third season on the league list, yet this is his first game at Spotland in that capacity.
However, back in April 2013 he refereed the FA County Youth Cup Final at Spotland between Manchester and Bedfordshire, while his second Football League appointment was Dale’s trip to Burton in August 2013.
Fans will remember Peter Cavanagh being sent-off early in that game, before Dale slumped to their customary Pirelli Stadium defeat.
Seb’s Football League life has been fairly uneventful since then and he has largely refereed in League One and League Two.
Before the weekend, when he was due at Fleetwood v Port Vale, Mr Stockbridge had taken charge of six games this season, showing 20 yellow cards and one red.