Dale’s FA Trophy quarter-final against Altrincham on Saturday will be refereed by ZAC KENNARD-KETTLE, son of the ever-popular Trevor Kettle, who retired from the National List two years ago.

The 23-year-old is based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne after studying at university there and progressed through the ranks to become a member of the newly-aligned National List of referees for this season.

This means he has refereed across League One, League Two and the National League, as well as the various cup competitions and he appears to be doing well as he has officiated significantly more games in the EFL than the National League.

Zac’s first outing of the campaign was Dale’s opening day 3-0 win at Boston United, while in September he made his EFL debut at Barrow v Swindon.

His last six appointments have included five in League One and League Two, while in early January Zac was fourth official at Liverpool v Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup.

Saturday will be his 25th match of the season as a referee, with the previous 24 producing 77 yellow cards and three red cards.

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