Ollie Yates is the referee when Dale return to the Crown Oil Arena against Gillingham on Saturday.
The Staffordshire official is in his fifth season on the referees’ list, but this will be only his fourth Dale appointment.
In April 2018 he refereed the disappointing 1-1 home draw with Bradford, where an injury-time fumble by Josh Lillis allowed Charlie Wyke to stab home the equaliser for The Bantams.
In November 2018, Ollie was back at the Crown Oil Arena for the goalless draw with Luton, while we last saw him 12 months ago when he was in charge of the 2-1 FA Cup replay win at Boston that earned Dale a home tie versus Newcastle in round three.
Mr Yates’ first two seasons at this level were blighted by injuries, but he is now over those problems and is a regular on the appointments’ lists.
In last season’s curtailed campaign, he refereed 30 matches, while so far this term, Ollie has officiated 15 games, in which he has shown 53 yellow cards and one red.
His most recent appointment was Morecambe v Harrogate last Saturday, while Yates’ last League One game was Plymouth v Ipswich a fortnight ago.