The ‘biggest game in the history of the National League’ between Dale and York City on Saturday will be refereed by WILL FINNIE.

This will be the fifth time Mr Finnie has taken charge of a Dale match, but the first since November 2022 when he was in the middle for our FA Cup first round defeat at Bristol Rovers.

Earlier in that campaign, Will refereed another 1-0 loss at Gillingham, while in September 2021 he was at Spotland for the local derby versus Oldham Athletic. Guess what – Dale lost 1-0!

However, it isn’t all bad news, as Mr Finnie’s other Dale appointment was at Plymouth Argyle in December 2020, where he oversaw a stunning performance that saw Brian Barry-Murphy’s men return north from Home Park with a 4-0 win.

The Kettering-based official is in his seventh season on the National List and has progressed to officiate in the Championship, as well as League One, League Two and the National League.

Last term he also refereed Newcastle United v Bromley in the FA Cup third round, followed by Southampton v Burnley at the next stage, before ending the season with AFC Wimbledon v Walsall in the League Two play-off final.

Injury meant Will didn’t appear until November in this campaign, but he has refereed 29 matches since then, showing 111 yellow cards and one red.

His most recent appointment was Oldham v Salford City last Saturday, while the last of his six Championship outings was Charlton Athletic v Norwich City a month ago.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters