Dean Whitestone is the man in the middle for Dale’s EFL Cup second round tie at QPR on Tuesday night.
The Northamptonshire-based official hasn’t been seen at a Dale game since November 2014 when he was in charge of our 3-0 home loss to Oldham.
Dean’s last Dale away match was at Bristol Rovers on Easter Monday 2014 where a 2-1 win ended a poor run of April results that threatened to derail our promotion hopes.
We also saw him at the 3-0 loss at Sheffield United in December 2011, while three months earlier Mr Whitestone was in the middle for a 2-0 defeat at Notts County.
That in itself was the first time Dean had refereed Dale since December 2008 when he was in charge for the 2-1 reverse at Port Vale.
One of his most notable appointments was at Spotland for the final home game of the 2006/07 season against Hartlepool which Dale won 2-0, although three red cards, two penalties and a mass brawl kept the referee on his toes.
Dean’s full list of Dale appointments is:
Feb 06 Cheltenham v Rochdale D 1-1
Apr 07 Rochdale v Hartlepool W 2-0
Oct 07 Grimsby v Rochdale W 2-1
Apr 08 Rochdale v Notts Co W 4-2
Dec 08 Port Vale v Rochdale L 1-2
Sep 11 Notts Co v Rochdale L 0-2
Dec 11 Sheffield U v Rochdale L 0-3
Jul 13 Rochdale v Preston (F) D 1-1
Apr 14 Bristol R v Rochdale W 2-1
Nov 14 Rochdale v Oldham L 0-3
So far this season the police officer has refereed four games, showing 10 yellow cards and no red.