Dale’s FA Trophy semi-final tie at home to Spennymoor Town on Saturday will be refereed by DECLAN BOURNE.
The Nottinghamshire police officer is in his fifth season on the National List and this will be his seventh Dale appointment, and the second inside two months.
We last saw Declan at Southend in February where Devante Rodney’s early strike was cancelled out by a late Liam Hogan own goal in the 1-1 draw.
Mr Bourne was last at Spotland in December 2022 when he officiated the terrible 4-1 home loss to Harrogate Town in League Two.
In the previous April, Declan refereed a 0-0 home draw versus Swindon, while in October 2021 he was in the middle at Barrow where a mopping up operation by the Holker Street groundstaff (and Henry Hoover) allowed the game to take place, albeit after a 30-minute delay.
Dale won that match 2-1, as they did at Bristol Rovers in January 2021 in a behind closed doors fixture with the same referee.
Two months before that game, Mr Bourne was at Spotland, where a customary injury-time goal for AFC Wimbledon gave them a 1-0 victory over Brian Barry-Murphy’s hapless Rochdale team.
Saturday will be Declan’s 24th appointment this season, but the first in the FA Trophy. His 23 matches to date have produced 91 yellow cards and two reds. His last game was Charlton v Huddersfield in League One last weekend.