Select Group and FIFA referee David Coote is the man in the middle when Dale entertain Newcastle United in the FA Cup on Saturday.
The Newark-based whistler became a league referee in the 2010/11 season and has since progressed to the Select Group, meaning he is appointed to Premier League games and higher profile fixtures in the EFL.
This week David also celebrated joining the FIFA list of international referees.
Saturday marks Mr Coote’s seventh Dale game and his fifth appearance at the Crown Oil Arena.
His first was in February 2015 when David refereed the 1-0 league defeat of Chesterfield, while later that year he was in the middle for Dale’s disappointing 1-0 home loss to Morecambe in the JPT.
In September 2016, Mr Coote officiated at the 1-0 midweek defeat of Bolton, while his last Spotland appearance was in October 2017 when Dale were beaten 1-0 by Rotherham.
We have also met David in two away fixtures - a rather dire 0-0 draw at Colchester in February 2012, followed by the significantly more exciting 4-2 win at Bradford at the end of that year, in which all the goals arrived in the first half.
Prior to Christmas, Mr Coote refereed Manchester United v Colchester in the Carabao Cup, while his festive appointments were Sheffield United v Watford and West Ham v Leicester, as well as a number of VAR duties at other Premier League games, including Bournemouth v Burnley and Wolves v Manchester City.