Charles Breakspear will referee Dale’s crucial game at MK Dons on Tuesday night.
The Surrey whistler has been a regular at our games in the Midlands and south in recent years and Tuesday will be his sixth Dale game.
We most recently saw him at Charlton on the final day of last season, where Dale were beaten 4-0 in a typical end-of-campaign fixture.
In the opening weeks of last term, Charles refereed Dale’s 1-0 win at Coventry, while in November 2017, he was again the referee at Charlton when Keith Hill’s Dale side went down to a 2-1 defeat after taking an early lead through Matty Gillam.
Further back in time, Breakspear refereed Dale’s 4-1 win at Colchester in December 2014 and our 1-1 FA Cup draw at Maidstone in November 2016.
All these matches have been free from controversy and a high card count, which goes against the reputation Charles has for being a strong disciplinarian on the field of play.
Before last Tuesday, when he was appointed to Peterborough v Wycombe, his 22 games this season had yielded 96 yellow cards and 11 red cards, although he has only sent-off one player since the start of December.