Cumbrian Anthony Backhouse will referee Dale’s game against Tranmere on Saturday for the second time this season.

The Workington official was also the man in charge at Prenton Park on the opening day of the campaign, where an excellent Dale performance saw them win 3-2, with two very late Rovers’ goals putting a flattering slant on the scoreline from their perspective.

Mr Backhouse is in his third season on the referees’ list and this will be his sixth Dale appointment in that time.

We first saw him on New Year’s Day 2018 when he refereed the 2-1 home loss to Blackpool, which turned into a thoroughly miserable affair played in pouring rain on an increasingly flooded pitch!

Anthony then returned to the Crown Oil Arena on the second weekend of last season for our 4-1 loss to Peterborough.

He was the fourth official in early January 2019 for Dale’s 4-0 home defeat by Burton and two months later he took charge of the 0-0 midweek home draw with Oxford.

Anthony joined the National List in 2017 after receiving the ultimate accolade in non-league football when he refereed Forest Green v Tranmere in the 2016/17 National League play-off final at Wembley.

He has since been in charge a large number of matches in League One and League Two and just before Christmas he was also appointed to Hull v Birmingham in the Championship as a trial game to test his suitability for potential promotion to the Select Group 2 list.

Saturday will be his 26th match this season, with the previous 25 producing 83 yellow cards and three red.

Anthony’s most recent appointment was Blackpool v Southend last Saturday.

Photo: Action Images

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