Poulton-le-Fylde referee Scott Oldham will referee Dale’s first-ever meeting with Ipswich Town on Tuesday.

The self-employed joiner, who is in his third season on the National List, has previously refereed five Dale matches, four of them at the Crown Oil Arena.

We first saw Scott in October 2017 when he took charge of Dale’s 1-0 home win over Bristol Rovers, although on that occasion he was a late replacement for the injured Tom Nield.

He returned to the Crown Oil Arena in March 2018 for the 1-1 draw with AFC Wimbledon and then three weeks later, he was an 11th hour replacement for Andy Haines in Dale’s thrilling, but ultimately frustrating 3-3 draw with Portsmouth.

More recently, Mr Oldham refereed the 3-2 home loss to Doncaster just over a year ago and we then saw him in February when he took charge of Dale’s 2-1 win at Walsall.

Before the weekend, when he was due to referee Bolton v Fleetwood, Scott had controlled 11 games this season, showing 31 yellow cards.

And despite being based on the Lancashire coast, the appointments people have kept him busy on the motorways with his games including trips to Portsmouth, Cambridge, Stevenage, Crawley, Plymouth and Leyton Orient.

Photo: Action Images

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