Dale will meet a new EFL referee on Saturday when Tom Nield takes charge of their League One game against Bristol Rovers.
The West Yorkshire official is in his first season on the referees’ list and this will be his ninth appointment already.
He began the campaign with Cambridge v Carlisle in League Two, while Mr Nield’s most recent game was Walsall v Blackpool last weekend.
Tom spent the last two seasons refereeing at National League level, having been an assistant referee in the Football League for the three campaigns prior to that.
He was on the line for Dale’s 1-0 defeat at Wigan on Easter Monday 2016, that game being made famous by only football people understanding why Ian Henderson shouldn’t have been dismissed!
In November 2013, Tom was an assistant at Spotland as Dale stepped-up their promotion charge with a 3-1 win over Exeter.
Back to this season and Mr Nield’s eight matches have seen him show 22 yellow cards and two red.