The referee for this weekend's game with Brentford is a certain Michael Oliver.

Michael Oliver is the second Football League referee to be named after a Dale player.

Back in the 1980s-1990s there was a referee called Bill Burns, while Dale had Willie Burns playing in defence or midfield.

So, that’s this week’s boring, useless fact out of the way!

Actually, no it isn’t, because here are two more.

Michael Oliver is the youngest-ever referee in the Football League (he’s either 22 or 23), while his father, Clive Oliver, is still active on the league list.

Not surprisingly, this is Michael’s first season in the middle at this level and it would appear that all his games have so far passed by without any controversy.

He was the referee for last season’s Conference play-off final between Morecambe and Exeter and if the knowledgeable websites are to be believed, we can expect to see him refereeing in the Premier League in the not-too-distant future.

He has never refereed a Dale game before, although last April he was on the line for our fine 1-0 win at Gigg Lane.

5 famous Michaels

Michael Owen
George Michael
Brian & Michael
Michael Winner
Michael row your boat ashore

5 famous Olivers

Oliver Reed
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Twist
Jamie Oliver
Oliver’s Army
 

Photo: Action Images

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