Darren Bond is the man in the middle for Dale’s game at Bury on Thursday.

The Wigan whistler is in his fifth season on the league list and is a member of the Select Group 2 referees who mainly take charge of fixtures in the Championship.

Indeed, Mr Bond will return to that level on Easter Monday when he referees Derby v Huddersfield.

Dale last saw Darren just over a year ago at our 2-2 home draw with Doncaster, while earlier last season he was in charge of the 1-1 draw at Scunthorpe.

Further back in time, Mr Bond was the man in the middle for our forgettable 3-0 loss at Oldham in March 2015, as well as the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie at home to Fleetwood in September 2012, which Dale won on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

Darren has refereed Bury very recently as he took charge of their goalless draw at Oldham last month, a game in which Ryan Lowe tried to claim a very dubious penalty…

In total this term, Bond has refereed 35 games, showing 109 yellow cards and five red. His most recent fixtures last week were Brighton v Birmingham and Cardiff v Brentford.

Photo: Action Images

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