Andy Woolmer will referee Dale for the first time in over two years when we return to the Keepmoat Stadium on Saturday.
We last saw the Northampton-based official in October 2015 when he was in charge of Dale’s 0-0 draw at Bury.
That was Andy’s third Dale appointment that year, as he was also in the middle for a 2-2 draw at Coventry in January 2015, before refereeing the 1-0 Good Friday defeat at Preston.
Mr Woolmer, a postman by trade, also refereed Dale twice in quick succession in their 2013/14 promotion campaign.
He was the man with the whistle at Exeter in February of that season, where Jamie Allen’s first half goal gave Dale a 1-0 win.
Seven weeks prior to that appointment, Andy had refereed the 3-0 New Year’s Day defeat at Scunthorpe in which he sent-off Michael Rose, but allowed Scott Hogan to remain on the field despite what appeared to be a headbutt after a midfield melee.
That Hogan then went on to score against Leeds three days later showed what an important call in Dale’s favour that was!
Mr Woolmer has been a regular performer at Dale fixtures since he joined the league list in 2004 and Saturday will be the 17th time we have seen him in the middle.
One of Andy’s most memorable Dale games was in September 2010 when he refereed the famous 2-0 win at Southampton, which is undoubtedly the best-ever league result achieved by any Rochdale side
FULL DALE RECORD
Sep 04 Grimsby (a), W 1-0
Mar 05 Wycombe (h), D 1-1
Sep 05 Oxford U (h), L 0-1
Oct 06 Darlington (a), W 5-0
Feb 08 Lincoln (a), L 1-2
Mar 08 Rotherham (h), W 4-1
Jan 09 Notts Co (h), W 3-0
Dec 09 Lincoln C (a), W 3-1
Sep 10 Southampton (a), W2-0
Nov 11 MK Dons (a), L 1-3
Nov 12 Port Vale (a), D 2-2
Jan 14 Scunthorpe (a), L 0-3
Feb 14 Exeter (a), W 1-0
Jan 15 Coventry (a), D 2-2
Apr 15 Preston (a), L 0-1
Oct 15 Bury (a), D 0-0
Last season Andy was chosen as one of the new Select Group 2 referees, which meant he mainly took charge of games in the Championship.
Unfortunately, he suffered an injury in January which kept him out until two months into this campaign and ahead of the Christmas fixtures, Mr Woolmer had officiated at only eight matches this term, showing 18 yellow cards.
His festive appointments were scheduled to be Peterborough v Bury on 23rd December and Oxford v MK Dons on Monday.